


Opposites Attract

by MysticWolfShadows



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: 'Evil' Iron Man, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-10-28 16:13:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10834761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticWolfShadows/pseuds/MysticWolfShadows
Summary: Tony Stark is a wealthy businessman who wears fancy suits and tosses money around like tissues at charity events. Steve Rogers is a poor artist who wears clothes maybe a size to small and barely a penny to his name. Both are as opposite as can be, but after a chance literal run in with each other, they find themselves falling head over heels.But everyone has secrets...Iron Man is the leader of a super villain team, the Iron Legion, and could literally destroy the world if they tried. Captain America is a man out of time and arch enemy of Iron Man and the Iron Legion. Both are fighting for supposedly different things, but things change often, and after years of fighting each other, they’re forced to fight together when they realize they might have more in common than they thought.





	1. Chapter 1

Steve was running late. Oh, oh so late. He had been trying to get a day job, one away from Coulson and other things, and had applied for a job as a comic book artist, but god, he was late! He was dressed in the nicest clothes he had, simple khakis and a button up, and had his art portfolio tucked under his arm. 

He was so late, and if he was late to this interview, he would never get the job! 

Then, as he rounded a corner, he ran right into someone else, sending them both to the ground. 

Steve blinked, startled and confused as his portfolio fluttered to the ground around them. He stared at the short man that was sitting up, rubbing his back. Steve stared, taking in the man. Dark, thick brown hair was mussed, but in a very attractive way. Equally dark brown eyes, sparked with a light of intelligence and cunning. The strong yet soft line of his jaw angled in for the face to be completed by a stylized goatee. 

He didn’t really believe in things like love at first sight, but god was he starting to. 

And then he realized what just happened. 

“I am so sorry,” Steve says as he hurries to his feet, helping the man up. He felt a jolt when he touched the man's arm, and he tried not to swoon as the man smiled. 

“Nah,” he said, bending down to pick up a dropped cell phone. “It’s just as much my fault as it is yours. Accidents happen.” 

Steve nods quickly, kneeling to gather up his scattered art profolio. The man follows, picking up a drawing of the New York skyline. He made a sound of approval, handing it to Steve as Steve stared. 

“They’re good,” he said, taking the portfolio. “I’ve been looking for a concept artist for some presentations. You need a job, you got one.” The man tucked a card into the portfolio before handing it back to Steve. “Or, if you’re looking for a date. I wouldn’t mind getting to know a good looking artist like yourself. Tony Stark, by the way.” 

Steve looked down as the man extended his hand, and he quickly shook it. Tony Stark. Wealthy businessman with enough money in his pocket to drop 50 percent of it into a random donation basket and still have enough to keep himself in silk for a few lifetimes. 

“Steve Rogers,” he says as he shakes Tony’s hand. “I went and saw your art collection at the charity fundraiser last fall. I didn’t have much to donate when I went in, but I put a few dollars in the box.” 

Tony nodded, smiling at him. “Well, I might just have to show it to you again sometime. I’m serious about that date, by the way.” His phone dinged, and he glanced down at it. “Ah. That’s my PA. I have to get going. I’ll see you around, though, I’m sure.” 

And with that, Tony was gone, hurrying down the street once again. 

Steve watched him go. He had always known he was gay, and it had been kind of obvious when he was scrawny. He showed more interest in art then in dames, he been living under the care of another man his age, and he never really denied it when bullies called him a fag. And god was he starting to swoon for Stark! 

He jolted as his phone beeped, pulling it out to see the call to suit up. With a glance at the clock on his phone, he groaned. He had missed his interview… 

XxXXxX

Captain America was furious. He was currently zipping through the cold Russian wilderness on his bike, chasing after the Iron Legion with Falcon and Widow. They had infiltrated a SHIELD base and had taken several pieces of equipment, though for what, no one knew. 

“Falcon,” Captain said as he made a sharp turn, catching sight of War Machine. “War Machine spotted. Flank him and take him down.” 

“On it Cap!” 

Falcon sailed past, shooting at War Machines thrusters. The metal man rolled to the side, slipping between trees, and disappearing. He reappeared almost as soon as he had disappeared, and launched something at Falcon’s pack. Falcon barely had a chance to dodge, the object nicking Falcons shoulder. 

Captain threw his shield at War Machines, only for a female, mechanical voice to cut in. 

“Not my War Machine, you don’t!” 

Rampage, the supposed female of the Iron Legion trio, dived down at his shield. She snatched it from the air, her arm snapping back to fling the shield back at him. He effortlessly caught it, swerving as she fired missiles at him. 

However, almost as soon as Rampage started, Widow jumped at her. She dug two knives into the crevice between the shoulders, the only known weak point in Rampage’s armor. The two woman swerved to the side, Rampage trying to knock Widow off. She wasn’t successful, Widow latched on tight. 

Falcon was busy trying get the upper hand on War Machine. They had different strengths, with War Machine practically a flying tank, and Falcon being able to outspeed almost anything. Their strengths were their enemies weakness, and they were both trying to use that against each other. They were fairly evenly matched. 

But the Captains main concern was Iron Man. The leader of the Iron Legion was nowhere in sight, and neither was the equipment. And with how gaudy that red and gold armor was, it was a shock no one had seen him. 

Then, a red and gold blur streaked through the air, knocking first Widow, then Falcon, to the ground. And there was Iron Man, a shining red and gold suit, and glowing center piece. Steve skidded to a halt, jerking as he glared up at Iron Man. 

“Sorry I can’t stay and chat, Captain,” the mechanical voice of Iron Man says with a chuckle. “But the Iron Legion and I have more important things to do then play with you all day. War Machine, Rampage, let’s go.” 

War Machine instantly took off, flying up to some kind of customized jet that seemed to materialize in the sky. Rampage paused for a second, then turned and pointed threateningly at Falcon and Captain. 

“Don’t touch my War Machine.” 

And with that she to was off. 

Iron Man stuck around for a second before taking off. He didn’t say anything, and disappeared inside the jet, which soon disappeared. 

Falcon slowly sat up as the Captain scowled. 

“This mission sucked.” 

And the Captain couldn’t agree more. 

XxXXxXXxXXxX

Tony Stark was distracted. It had been a few days since he gave that artist his personal card. He never gave anyone that card. Hell, the only person he would have thought about giving his personal card to in the past was Pepper, and he didn’t need to since they had each other personal numbers already. 

Pepper came in to give him more paperwork, drawing him away from his thoughts of a large, masculine, hunky… 

“ _ Mr. Stark. _ ” 

Tony blinked, looking up at Pepper, who was looking sternly at him. She didn’t look very pleased, and she definitely wasn’t if she called him by his last name. 

“Tony,” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Have you heard a single word that I’ve said?” 

He shrugged, taking the paperwork from her. It looked all to be more sale papers that needed his signature. A few for SHIELD, a few to hospitals, and one or two for a military base. He would have to take a closer look at the SHIELD papers, but he would skim the military one. The hospital was a well known customer, and Tony often donated equipment there. 

Pepper sighed, pulling a letter from her coat. She didn’t pull it out completely, just enough to show him it was there before she put it back in her coat. It looked old, battered, and there were several wrinkles on the surface. 

“A friend called,” Pepper said as she crossed her arms. “If you have time, he managed to  _ get the day off _ and would like it if you met him at  _ the usual spot _ tomorrow afternoon.”

Tony nodded, thinking carefully. It would be risky going so soon after their last meeting, but if he had managed to get the ‘day off’ then it would be worth it. They could use his help on the team. 

“I’ll read the letter later,” Tony says as his phone starts ringing, answering it instantly. “Hey Rhodey, what’s up?” 

“Rhodey?” A male voice that was definitely not Rhodey said. “Am I… Were you expecting another call, Mr. Stark?” 

Tony nearly fell out of his chair, eyes wide. Pepper looked like she was about to grab the phone and ask just who was calling. But Tony waved her away, turning to face away from her as he spoke. 

“No, no,” Tony said quickly. “Rhodey’s my best friend. And please, call me Tony. I was starting to think you weren’t going to call. How are you, Steve?” 

“Fine, I suppose. I was actually wondering if you, uh, had time for that date anytime soon?...” 

“Of course, how about tomorrow?” 

Behind him, Pepper cleared her throat, and Tony looked back at her. She flashed the letter, and Tony winced. 

“Sure, I should be-” 

“Wait, sorry, my PA just told me I have a meeting tomorrow. What about tonight? Say, seven o’clock?” 

“Oh, well, yes. Yes tonight will be fine. Do you, um, know what we’ll be doing?” 

“Just dinner, maybe some drinks afterward.” 

“I don’t drink.” 

“Alright, nix the drinks. I’ll be at your place at seven. Where is it?” 

Steve told him, and he hung up after a quick good bye. Tony grinned, swirling around in his chair. Pepper scowled at him, and Tony got up, rubbing his hands together. He was totally ready for this. So ready for this. 

“I got a date in-” He glanced down at his watch. “-two hours. Really hot blond. Artist. I’m sure you’ll like him. He liked the collection we showed last fall.” 

She sighed, pulling out a tablet from seemingly nowhere, tapping at it as Tony walked by. 

“You have no more meetings today, but remember you have to go meet  _ him _ tomorrow. And it could end badly if you’re late.” 

“I know,” Tony said as he hurried out. “Happy! I got a date, need to get ready!” 

His chauffeur nodded quickly, hurrying after him to the car. He opened the door for Tony, closing it once he was inside, and went to the driver side. They were instantly off, heading to the mansion as if it was the last thing they would do. 

When he got there, he hurried inside, heading down the long hallways to his room, tossing off his work suit as he went. By the time he reached his bedroom and dresser, he was in his boxers and socks. He quickly looked through his clothes, grabbing a nice pair of ironed black slacks and slipping them on. Next was a white dress shirt, then a black jacket. 

It would have to do… With how long it took to get from the tower to the mansion, he didn’t have much time to get to Steve’s. It was in fucking Brooklyn! Brooklyn! 

He snatched up his shoes as he went, hurrying to the car and hopping in. Tony slammed the door shut, Happy hurrying off as Tony pulled on his shoes. He was dressed to impress, and he didn’t know why but he really hoped things work out with him and Steve. Steve was good looking, and he seemed like a nice guy. Tony needed more people he could trust. 

Steve was waiting outside when Happy pulled up, looking at his watch. He looked up when Tony opened the door, stepping out. Steve was in a pair of khaki pants, a white shirt, and an old looking black motorcycle jacket. He looked good, and Tony was very pleased. 

“Hey Steve,” Tony said as his date blinked at him. “You ready to go?” 

For a second, Steve looked like he might back out, but he nodded, and followed Tony into the car. 

XxXXxX

Iron Man was ready to get this done. He still giddy from his perfect date the night before, and he was eager to call his date back to ask about another. However, he had work to do, and reread the small letter- more of a note, really- and frowned at it. 

_ Broke the brainwashing again. Whatever you did last time, it’s working. On the run from the handlers. Meet you outside of Beta Gamma hideout tomorrow. -Winter _

He landed carefully not far from the meeting point. The Winter Soldier was waiting there for him, wearing stolen civilian clothes over his gear. He clearly had a few weapons on him, since he always had weapons, but the bulge of the rifle on his back was a little much. 

Iron Man had met the Winter Soldier entirely on accident while on a job. The Soldier had confronted him half way through a mission six months ago. He had noticed the look in the Soldier's eyes, the way he talked, and managed to knock the Soldier out before taking him back to an Iron Legion hide out. Iron Man ended up finding small microchips in the metal arm and his skull that had been used to brainwash the Soldier. He got a few out of the arm first, but there had been a lot. 

The Soldier had been grateful, and agreed to join the Legion whenever he was completely free before he had slipped back into his brainwashed state. He came back a month or so later, saying he had broken free again and wanted Iron Man work a few more chips out. He did and the Soldier had been coming every month or so since. However, a few weeks ago was the first time Iron Man had removed any of the chips in his brain. 

“Winter,” Iron Man said as he smirked behind his faceplate. “You came back much faster this time. Everything seem to be working for you?” 

“My handlers noticed the chips in my brain missing,” Winter said as he glanced towards the entrance of the hide out. He didn’t have a passcode or key, so it’s doubtful he would ever be able to get in on his own until Iron Man gave him one. “I’ve spent less time brainwashed then normal, and they took notice. Think I can hide out here until you finish getting the rest out?” 

Iron Man hummed in thought, moving to unlock the entrance of the hideout. It was hidden in a cliffside, across a large river. If anyone wanted to get to it, they had to risk propelling down the unstable wall over a hundred feet, or attempt to cross the roaring rapid of the river. The Winter Soldier had probably just jumped the cliff. 

“I guess,” Iron Man said as the door slid open. “I’ll tell War Machine and Rampage, have one of them drop off some food for you. Not much here but canned beans. War Machine is here most, and that’s pretty much the only thing he can make.” 

“I resent that,” War Machine shouted to the pair as they entered the main room. 

It was a large dome like space, with a couch and TV on one side, forming a living room, while there was a table and kitchen on the other side. It was more of a second home then a base. To the left of the entrance, through the kitchen, was a door that led to storage and an underground dock. To the right of the entrance, past the living room, was living spaces, six different rooms used by anyone who came through. The Iron Legion may consist of Iron Man, War Machine, and Rampage, but others, allies, past through every now and then. Bruce Banner had hid in Beta Gamma a few times, as well as Hawkeye when he had left the Circus of Evil. The Winter Soldier had used one of the rooms a few time after Iron Man had removed some of the chips. On the opposite end of the entrance was a door leading to the labs and a mini hospital because they were always getting hurt.

“You staying here or are you just visiting?” War Machine asked as Winter Soldier dropped onto the couch. 

“Staying,” he said as he frowned at the TV. War Machine was watching some nature documentary, though Iron Man had no clue why. “Unless I suddenly snap back into brainwashed mode and try to kill you all.” 

War Machine looked at the Soldier, then at Iron Man, who shrugged. 


	2. Chapter 2

Steve was with Sam and Natasha when he saw Tony again. Their first date had been amazing, a week before, and they had been exchanging texts and calls before they were supposed to have a second date in another week. 

Since they rarely had time to just hang out, Natasha suggested they go to a club. Steve was mostly there to be the designated driver, since he couldn’t get drunk and hated the taste of alcohol. Well, besides the occasional sip of wine. 

But he was having fun, just talking with Natasha and Sam. He got to watch Natasha brutally turn down guys that came to flirt with her, and Sam shoo girls away when they came to flirt with Steve. The looks on girls faces when Sam said ‘sorry, he’s gay’ to girls was one of the saddest and funniest things Steve had ever seen. 

At the moment, Sam was off to the bathroom, and Natasha was off to make out with a guy she had found interest in. So Steve was currently sitting alone, sipping his soda. That’s when Tony seemed to appear from nowhere, sliding into Natasha’s seat across from Steve. 

“Well,” Tony said with a grin, causing Steve to look up at him in slight surprise. “I wasn’t expecting you here.” 

“I wasn’t expecting you either,” Steve said with a smile. “What are you doing here, anyway?” 

“I could ask you the same thing. But Rhodey’s birthday is today, so we came here to party. We’re in a private area in the back. What are you doing here alone?” 

Steve sighed, turning to look over his seat at where Natasha was whispering something to the guy she had gone with. Cliff or Clide or something like that. Tony seemed to follow his view and snorted. 

“So that’s where Clint went. She with you?” 

“Yeah, Natasha. We’re here with our friend Sam. He’s in the bathroom.” 

Tony hummed, nodding slightly as he glances over his own shoulder. Steve followed his gaze, finding a group waiting in the corner. There was a red headed woman, a black man, and a man Steve recognized as Happy, Tony’s chauffeur. Most of them were drinking, besides Happy, and most of them were laughing hysterically. 

The red headed woman looked over at them, and made a motion for Tony to go back. Tony simply rolled his eyes and turned back to Steve. 

“If you want, you can come to our table and bring your friends. Happy told Rhodey and Pepper you were here and Pep wants me to get you to come over. And retrieve Clint, but I can do that later.” 

Steve nods, getting up as Tony grins. “Sure. I’ll just go get Sam and Natasha. They’ve been asking about you, to, since I told them we have another date next week.” 

Tony nodded, giving Steve a quick, excited peck on the lips before hurrying off, presumably to get Clint and Natasha. Steve stood rooted for a second, blinking. Tony hadn’t kissed him at the end of their first date, and that little peck was the first kiss they had had together. It was short, and probably done by accident, by Steve had liked it. In fact, he was beginning to wonder just what really kissing Tony would feel like. 

But for now, Steve shook the thought off and went to go get Sam. His friend was standing just outside the bathroom, talking to a girl that looked not the least bit interested. Steve sighed, walked over, and lighting excused themselves, leading Sam away. The girl gave him a grateful look, and Sam pouted, but Steve had other things on mind. 

He led Sam over to where Tony was now sitting, Natasha and Clint with them, though Natasha was giving them all the stink eye. 

“Steve,” Tony perked up as they came over, causing everyone to look at him. 

Steve smiled, coming to a halt next to Natasha. 

“So this is Steve,” the black man, who Steve assumed was Rhodey, said as he set down his glass. “Nice to finally put a face to the name Tony hasn’t shut up about.” 

“Wait,” Sam said as he went wide eyed, looking at Tony. “So you’re Tony? The Tony? Steve won't shut up about you either!” 

“Sam!” Steve scolded, then sighed, looking at everyone. “Tony said that it’s Rhodey’s birthday and thought it would be a good idea to merge the two groups to celebrate.” 

Everyone nodded, the two groups soon merging into one as everyone mixed and mingled. Soon a round of shots was on the table, Sam, Clint, and Rhodey cheering as they tried to out drink each other. Natasha was talking about something with Happy and Pepper, making plans of some kind. 

Steve sat with Tony, talking with him as Tony drank and cheered the other guys on in their competition. But the night soon came to an end, as the club closed barely an hour later. Happy gathered Rhodey, Pepper, and Clint, leading them away as Tony followed Steve to his car. Sam and Natasha were already inside, starting to doze after their alcohol intake. 

Tony leaned on Steve, babbling as Steve checked to make sure that Natasha and Sam were buckled. He kissed Tony’s temple when Happy came to get the billionaire, and watched him leave before he got in the car they were borrowing from Sam, and drove his friends home. He’d call to check on Tony in the morning. Maybe give Tony the recipe for Bucky’s hangover cure. 

XxXXxX

Captain America was enraged. He was furious. He was going to take that metal suit out of the sky and rip it apart, piece by piece. 

They were currently fighting the Iron Legion, Captain going head to head with Iron Man. The Legion had attacked a medical facility, taken some sort of tools the Captain couldn’t care less about. He was in the middle of Turkey, an hour before his next date, and they had to get those tools back before they could even think about going home. 

He would have to call Tony, tell him he can’t make it. Damn it! 

He dodged a repulsor blast as Iron Man zipped passed, and turned to duck behind an overturned truck. The Captain needed to make the call but with that bloody villain shooting at him, he couldn’t. 

“Falcon!” He called over the comms. “Iron Man is riding my tail, but I need to make a civilian call.” 

“Oh shit,” Falcon groans, rolling into view, War Machine hot on his tail feathers. “Coming in hot with company!” 

The Captain jerked out of the way, coughing up dirt as he scrambled up. His phone vibrated in his pocket, signaling a new call. He fumbled for it, pulling it from his pocket. Tony Stark. The captain cursed, clearing his throat before answering. 

“Hey Tony,” He said, making sure he didn’t use the ‘Captain’ voice. 

“Hey Steve,” Tony said, sounding out of breath. “Sorry to call you so close to our date, but I have to cancel. I had to push a meeting to today instead of next week. Super important, can’t blow it off.” 

“You shouldn’t blow off meetings for me anyway. Are you alright? You sound out of breath.” 

“I’m-” a grunt “-fine! I’m so busy running around getting things ready for this meeting!” 

“Oh, well I’ll call you back later, then.” 

“Yeah, talk to you later Steve!” 

Tony hung up, and he frowned at the phone, quickly going back into Captain mode as he rushed at Iron Man as Falcon flew by. He tussled with the suit, Iron Man trying to shoot at him with the repulsors. He would have none of it, though, and used his shield to smack the hand away. 

Before he could really beat into the villain, Rampage charged him, her heavy suit slamming hard into the Captain. He made an attempt to get her off, shoving at her chest plate as she wrestled him to the ground. 

Her suit was heavy, especially compared to the Iron Man. Rampage was meant to hit hard and fast, with enough weapon power to destroy a city block and just fast enough to get away, but her power reserves were low. She was the middle ground of Iron Man, the speed king of evil with the fastest speed time known to anyone, and War Machine, who had enough firepower to destroy not just the block but the entire city. 

Captain managed to roll Rampage over, hefting his shield to slam it into the power source in her chest. If he destroys the power source, the suit will shut down and they can drag the supposed pilot out and finally put these three in jail! 

But the Captain doesn’t get the chance, Iron Man grabbing him under the arms and dragging him off Rampage, into the skies. 

“You know,” Iron Man says as the Captain struggled against Iron Man’s hold. “You guys are really holding up our social lives.” 

“I don’t get a social life, thanks to you villains,” The Captain snapped back. 

Iron Man hummed softly, stopping as if in thought. “Well, if you’re going to be so rude, I suppose I can let you off here.” 

“Wait, wha-” 

And then the Captain was falling. Falling, falling, falling. Down he went, flailing as he tried to shout at Falcon over the comms. With a hard splash, he landed in the river, going under for a second before he breached the surface, coughing. He swam to the bank, his shield making it hard to swim as the current tried to take it down stream. He could only think of one thing as he pulled himself from the water, watching the Iron Legion fly off. 

Lost his date and his phone. Just great. 

XxXXxXXxXXxX

It’s been a few months since Tony had met Steve, and things were going great. They’d gone on many dates, and got the groups together every now and then. Sure, they had their ups and downs, little and big arguments here and there, but they worked well together. 

And Tony was thinking about taking the next step. 

“Tony,” Pepper said as she gaped at him. “You can’t possibly be serious. You’ve only known him for, what? Four months?” 

“Four and a half,” Tony corrected as he swiveled in his chair to turn to another work bench in his lab. “And I am serious. When have I not been serious about Steve?” 

“Tony, there are problems with this. He could find out about you. Or about all three of us, and about Winter. It’s way too risky, Tony.” She turned to Rhodey, exasperated. “James, knock some sense into him before he exposes us all.” 

For a moment, the two men just stared at each other, Rhodey leaning against the wall by the door. He looked stern, eyes narrowed as Tony waited for the words he wouldn’t listen to. What he got instead, was definitely not what he expected. 

“I think he should do it,” Rhodey said as he turned to look at Pepper. “Steve’s a good guy, and he might just balance out Tony’s stupid. He just has to make sure Steve can’t see any of our I-L stuff.” 

Pepper scowled at them, crossing her arms. “This is a terrible idea, Tony, but I know I can’t stop you. I just hope you know what you're doing.” 

Tony sighed, watching her as she left. Rhodey patted him on the shoulder, before following after her, talking quietly to her. Tony waited until they were gone before turning back to his bench, fiddling with his tools for a bit. Dummy wheeled over, tugging on his sleeve, then darted off as Tony pulled his arm free. The bot was as annoying as ever, and since hearing about Steve had been unbearable.

Steve had been over at the New York mansion, had spent a few nights, even. He’d never been down to Tony’s lab, since Steve insisted that he didn’t need to see his work. It was one of the reasons Tony was so ready to take that next step. Steve really didn’t care about his business side, and gave him his space to work when Tony asked. Sure, Steve had yet to go with Tony to a gala, but he had accepted Tony’s invite to the event coming up in a few weeks. 

So, Tony was ready for this. He scooped up his phone, heading up to his room to get changed before heading to the kitchen. Steve would be arriving soon, for a dinner that Tony was going to make. It had been a challenge from Steve, actually, that Tony make dinner. Steve had mentioned one night that he had never seen Tony in the kitchen before, and said the Tony couldn’t cook. So Tony was making him dinner. It was easy, since cooking was like science, but when the knock came at the door, Tony was busy whisking. . 

“It’s open,” he called, hearing the door open as he turned to grab some potatoes.

Steve soon appeared in the kitchen, gaping as Tony stirred the potatoes, adding a pinch of salt and pepper before dishing them out onto two plates. 

“Hey Steve,” Tony says as he oils a pan, moving the steak to it. “Still think I can’t cook?” 

“No,” Steve says as his stomach growled. “Just surprised. You said you had butler as a kid, so I just thought you had never been in a kitchen.” 

“Edwin Jarvis,” Tony says as he finishes cooking, putting the steak on the plates. “He was more of a big brother that was old enough to be my grandfather. I cooked with him all the time. This was his recipe. Grilled steaks with garlic chive butter and french style potato salad.” He carried the two plates to the table, setting them down. “Come on, Steve. I wanna talk about a thing.” 

“A thing?” he asks jokingly, sitting down across from Tony. “Sounds pretty serious. So what is this ‘thing’ you want to talk about?” 

Tony shifted nervously in his chair. How was he nervous? He was never nervous. Steve was watching him, taking a bite of his potatoes as he waited. God, what if Steve said no? But he already said he had something he wanted to talk about. He couldn’t back out now! 

“I know we’ve only been dating for a while,” Tony says as he pushes his potatoes around on his plate. “But I want you to move in with me. I know you’re probably attached to your apartment, and if I could, I would move in with you, but I can’t move my lab out of the basement. It’s too important, and there’s too much stuff that wouldn’t like the change. And-” 

“Tony.” 

He blinked, looking up at Steve, who was giving him a light smile. 

“When can I start moving my stuff?” 

A grin split across Tony’s face, and he was practically jumping for joy. “As soon as you want.” 

XxXXxX

Iron Man was almost done with the Winter Soldier. He had been working almost every day on getting rid of those micro chips, and there was only one let. Just one little chip that he was working out right now. 

Rampage was behind him, talking silently with War Machine as they waited. She had doubts about the Soldier, but Iron Man knew the Winter Soldier could be trusted. If he wasn’t, then it would be a terrible surprise. 

So he pulled out the last chip, and patched the soldier up. He had worked hard to make sure the Soldier could now be free to make his own choices, live his own life. When the Soldier was all set, Iron Man moved to stand in front of him, waving his metal hand in front of his eyes. 

“Yoo-hoo,” Iron Man chirped cheerily. “Anybody home?” 

Winter groaned, rubbing his head with his flesh and blood hand as the metal one pushed Iron Man’s hand away. “I’m fine. Just… Getting used to it all being gone.” 

Iron Man grinned behind his faceplate, and laughed. He had done it. He had saved the Winter Soldier from his servitude. Iron Man had finally saved someone…

The Winter Soldier soon grinned, flexing his metal hand for a second before looking up at Iron Man. He had promised he would help the Iron Legion with their mission, even after Iron Man insisted it was unnecessary. Iron Man believed that, now that the Soldier was free, he should live his life, find out who he was, be happy. But the Winter Soldier had a different idea. 

“When’s our first mission?” Winter asked with a smirk. 

Iron Man blinked behind his faceplate, ready to insist that he didn’t need to repay them, but an alarm blared overhead. It was the signal for the transport of the equipment they needed to steal. The three members in metal suits turned to look at eachother, and Iron Man looked expectantly at them for backup. 

But War Machine shrugged, and Rampage sighed. 

“He might as well come with us,” she said as she turned to the door leaving to the Quinjet. “He’ll just come back if we try to drop him off somewhere. Besides, we have to get going now, or we might miss the convoy.” 

Iron Man sighed, but nodded for Winter to follow them to their jet. They all climbed in, Iron Man and War Machine taking their places in the pilot's seats. Rampage would do some briefing with Winter in the back while they flew, and by the time they had set up the auto pilot just right, they were almost at the drop sight. 

“No room for hiccups,” War Machine says strictly. 

Behind his faceplate, Iron Man rolled his eyes smirking. “We have exactly thirty minutes, no more, no less, to secure the case and get to the extraction point or the jet leaves without us. That’s plenty of time. Especially since we out number them, now.” 

“Them being SHIELD’s supers,” Winter guessed. 

Rampage nods, turning to slap the hatch button. “I have the Widow, and War Machine will take out the Falcon if he can, and Captain America is Iron Man’s. You stay in the shadows, grab the case, and get back into the shadows. Help us when you can, but focus on the goal. Just remember, no killing.” 

With a quick nod from possibly the newest member of the team, Iron Man led the charge from the jet, diving in the suit for a moment, until they were closer to the ground. In a millisecond, the three changed from free falling to zipping towards the convoy, gaining quickly as the Widow appeared on the roof of one of the trucks, firing at them. The bullets bounce almost harmlessly off of them, and Iron Man flew past her, sweeping her feet out from under her. She fell hard onto her back, and Rampage slammed onto the roof of the truck, punching a first through the metal to make an attempt to bind the Black Widow with it. 

The Falcon dived down onto them, though, more specifically, Iron Man, but War Machine slammed into him, ready to distract the winged man without any hesitation. It gave Iron Man to fly to the front of the convoy, the trucks swerving around him as he tried to make a fake effort to find the right truck that held the case. He actually knew exactly where it was, and was instead trying to find the Captain. 

And speak of the devil and he shall appear. 

Captain America raced towards him on a motorcycle, his shield attached to the front. Iron Man raised a palm, firing a few repulser shots, purposefully missing as always so that he didn’t hit any part of the bike. The Captain swirled around him on the bike, kicking up dust as the trucks drove past. Once the trucks seemed to be an acceptable distance, Iron Man powered up both of his repulsors, spinning to knock the Captain. 

He was rewarded with a startled shout, and the dust cleared to show Captain America getting up from where he had been knocked to. The bike was in pieces, so Iron Man made the guess that  he may have been a bit to hard. He let the Captain regain his footing, scooping up his shield. 

“Wow,” Iron Man said with as much humor as he could manage. “It’s so weird how you run into people on the road.” 

The Captain scowled, flexing his fist. “Give it up Iron Man, you’re not getting what you want.” 

The way the Captain’s voice seemed to pause momentarily showed that the Captain didn’t actually know what it was. The case held a formula that was disguised as the cure for cancer, but they believed it was actually something called Cree Blood. It could possibly have the same effects as the Super Soldier Serum, and Iron Man was fairly certain that the Captain would rather that blood stay away from all hands, including SHIELD’s.

Before Iron Man could think of a witty remark, he glanced at a clock in the corner of the Hud, above a mission log. Just under a recorded note from him- Cap engaged- was a note from the Winter Soldier. Package secure, ready for pick up.

Rampage must have given the Soldier one of their headsets before take off.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Iron Man says as they lifted into the air. They’d already wasted twenty-five minutes on the show, leaving Iron Man with about four minutes to ditch the Captain, grab Winter, and make it to the jet. “But I have to pick up a friend.”

He turned, taking off just as the Captain lunged for him. Iron Man could feel the weight of the soldier on his back, his enemies arms wrapping around his neck as he made his way to the truck. The Captain tried to get him off course, tried to make him crash, but the Captain seemed to forget that he wasn't working alone.

A short pop sounded from the truck where Winter was, and the Captain let out a startled yelp, his arm loosening. Taking a chance, Iron Man did a barrel roll, sending the Captain crashing to the ground as he grabbed the Winter Soldier's hand. They took off, Winter sending a few more shots at the Widow and the Falcon. They fell, stunned by the gun that Winter must have gotten from one of the men in the truck.

Rampage and War Machine flew after them, one taking the case from Winter's back (he had tied it on his back with some cord), and the other taking his other hand as they flew onto the jet.

They made it with just a few seconds to spare, and they disappeared from sight. Winter smirked at them, holding out the gun he had found like it was some sort of prize, or like a cat who was delivering a mouse.

"This is pretty neat," Winter said with a smirk. "Think you could make more of these?"

Iron Man grinned under the faceplate as the jet started off to Beta Gamma base. "Of course. Hell, I can make just special clips you can use in anything. Oh, this is gonna be fun!"

He moved to a makeshift workbench in the jet, starting to take the weapon apart. It wasn't very complicated, and he had a feeling he knew who had made it. In fact, he- his civilian identity- might have had a hand in creating it. They had his tech, and he hadn't even known. But then again, the two who made it don't know as much about SHIELD as he does.

"Oh great," War Machine said jokingly. "You gave him a new toy."

Winter Soldier didn't seem all that bothered by that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Yeah. Second chapter of Opposites. Great right? Or not?   
> Just... put questions and, you know, comments in the comments section bellow! I respond to everything as quickly as I can.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve had finished moving in within a week. He didn't have much, just a few boxes of personal stuff that he wanted to keep, and the rest was furniture that came with the apartment. Or, well, his gear for his 'night job', but he moved that to his main base, the Playground.

Tony had given him a key not long after they started dating, that he had used anytime he liked. He usually didn't use it if Tony wasn't home, but he did now, since he lived in the house. And wasn't that a strange thought. He could openly have a relationship with a man and live with that man without scrutiny? Such a strange, strange thought. Times really had changed.

Currently, Steve was the only one in the mansion, trying to relax after a long day of failing another mission. They had gotten quiet the chewing out by Hill that they let an unknown slipped past them, take the item they were supposed to be guarding, and take one of Fitz and Simmons Icers.

Natasha and Sam were still a bit sore from getting shot with the Icer the unknown had taken. Sam had been flying, and had a broken arm from the fall to the ground, hitting a truck on the way down. Natasha wasn't as bad, but she just about broke her neck from falling off the roof of the truck she had been on.

He needed someone to rant to, and it wasn't like he could rant to Tony. Or... could he? He told Tony, back when they started dating, that he worked at a bar part time, which wasn't entirely a lie. He did work part time at the bar his base was under, though it was so he could play bouncer for the entrance to the base.

Steve was usually there when Tony dropped in unexpected for a visit and a drink, but he was sometimes down in the base doing a debrief, and Mac or Daisy would cover for him. They often told Tony he was out getting supplies, and it usually worked, since their bar was usually filled with either drunk agents or people wanting to see Tony Stark. It was a good cover, and he had learned a lot about mixing before he let Coulson assign him to the bar. He was quite the mixologist now.

Heaving a sigh, Steve laid back on the couch, throwing an arm over his face. It was late- or early, as it was three o'clock in the morning. He was surprised that Tony wasn't back yet, but at the same time, not. Tony had told him that he had some kind of R&D meeting until late, he just didn't expect it to go until three a.m.

Just as he sighed again, the front door opened, and Tony strode in, grinning.

"Hey," Tony said as Steve walked over to meet him halfway. After a kiss, the brunette looked him over, frowning a little. "What are you still doing up?"

"The bar asked me to work just after you left," Steve said, nuzzling his face into Tony's neck, placing little kisses. "Some thugs got a little rowdy, and Sam broke his arm. I had to take him to the hospital."

"Really?" Tony said, startled. Steve was more than a little pleased that Tony liked Sam and Natasha, since they were his friends. "Does he know who they are? I can get some of my legal team to get them arrested."

"No," Steve says, maybe a little too quickly. The last thing he needed was Tony getting involved with Iron Man. "It's just a hazard of the job. But... Sam got hurt because I wasn't paying attention. I thought there was just two of them, but when I managed to get one of the guys down, a third came out of nowhere and threw Sam over the bar."

Tony winced, as if he could imagine what Steve was telling him, and Steve would make sure he Sam what the official cover story was. They would have to tell Natasha to, of course, but Steve would do that later.

For now, Steve let Tony coax him into bed, letting the brunette pepper him with light and then rough kisses. They had quite the time, really. It was great. 

After a while, they settled down for a nap before they got up at their own times. Steve was up before eight, to go do his morning workout, though Tony didn’t get up until noon. They both had the day off, which was rare. They had the entire day to themselves. 

And they ended up squandering it by watching TV. 

XxXXxX

Captain America was on a solo mission today. Not unusual, but unusual at the same time. Coulson hated breaking up a good working team. 

His mission was mainly just to find and destroy a device that was sending off false distress signals. The sensors at SHIELD were picking it and it was giving the techs at the base a bit of trouble, since it was blending with other signals and distorting them. 

They would have sent Black Widow, but she was looking into the newest member of the Iron Legion. Falcon was still tied up on bedrest, his arm in a cast. He would be working bar duty for the next month or so. So the Captain was on his own. 

He knew he had to do this quietly, make sure as few people as possible saw him. Though, there weren't many people in an abandoned train yard. 

Moving between the massive metal box cars, the Captain did his best to not be seen. Whoever was using the device was probably dangerous, and was likely waiting for a SHIELD team to show up to take them down. It was hard, as many of the boxes were red, and his suit was blue, but he had done fairly well. After all, he made it to the control tower without trouble. 

Once he was inside, it was beyond easy to find the device. The problem was, however, that as soon as he destroyed it, the man with the metal arm from before came crashing through the window.  

At first, the Captain struggled, until he noticed that the man wasn’t actually trying to kill him. He was holding him down, blocking him with his body. The Captain only had a minute to realize this as well as the fact that the stranger had taken the device out of his hand and thrown it out of the window, before the tower shoot as the device exploded. 

It took him even less time to realize that the stranger had saved his life. 

And just as fast, the stranger was getting up, and running of the door. 

“Wait!” the Captain cried, scrambling to get up and grab his shield as he gave chase. “Stop!” 

Of course, no one ever listened to him when he said this. The stranger jumped down over the railing of the stairs, landing on a box with ease before he took off running. With an irritated grumble, the Captain jumped down after him, running along the metal as he shouted into his comms. 

“We have an Iron Legion member at the train yard!” He called into the comms, getting his shield ready for a throw. “He’s heading towards the city!” 

There was a jumble of shouting from the earpiece as he paused to launch the shield at the stranger's back. And, ever the surprise that this guy was, he stopped, turned in a blink of an eye, and had caught the throw with his metal arm. The Captain got a good look at his face. Though the long brown hair was different, and the circles under the eyes darker, the Captain’s voice broke as he spoke. 

“Bucky?” 

The stranger, Bucky, frowned as he dropped the shield. It was almost like… Like Bucky didn’t remember him. 

“Who the hell is Bucky?” he said as a hand reached towards his waist, where the Captain realized a gun was. “Forget that… You’re fighting the wrong guys, Captain America. We aren’t the ones you want.” 

And with that, Bucky threw the shield back at him, it hitting the Captain in the stomach as he watched Bucky jump up onto a stack of metal boxes, and hold out a hand. And just like that, Iron Man swooped down and took his hand. He stood and watched with newfound horror as the two began to fly towards the city. 

Gritting his teeth, Steve ran as fast as he towards his bike. Within seconds, he had it started, and he revved down the street after them. It was rather easy to follow them. After all, everyone was staring and pointing at the Iron Man as he zipped through. 

Once he was close enough, he pulled up his shield, throwing it with all the force he could muster. It sailed through the air, ricocheting off of a light pot to slam into Iron Man's chest. The two thrashed, plummeting down and into the glass ceiling of a convention center. people were running out of the building in seconds, all businessmen in suits. 

The Captain's eyes widened in a second, remembering what Tony had said he'd be doing that day. His boyfriend and housemate was in that convention center for a gathering. Tony had wanted him to go with him, but he hadn't been able to get out of work. 

He sped up the bike, zipping up to the building and jumping off to run inside.He had to find Tony. No, he had to find Bucky and Iron Man, so  _ they _ couldn't find Tony. It wasn't hard, since they fell to the very center of the building. 

Tony, however, seemed to already be there. 

He was standing over the Iron Man suit, which was open and empty, as if shocked. Tony then looked up at the hole in the ceiling, then towards the other end of the room, where a door was swinging back and forth. Then, he turned to the Captain, making his heart stop. 

“They ran that way,” he said, pointing to the swinging door. “I couldn't see what they man in the suit looked like, but the guy with the metal arm had to carry him out.” 

Holding back a sigh of relief, the Captain nodded, hurrying after Bucky and the Iron Man. The fact that they pilot was out of the suit, that they had a chance of catching him, was amazing. They could catch the bastard and finally lock him up. 

But a soon as he exited the door, a cold metal hand wrapped around his wrist, twisting his arm hard and fast. He heard a snap, and he gave a gasp as Bucky shoved him to the ground. Then, SHIELD vans appeared, agents hurrying out to try and shoot, until Bucky fled back into the building. The Captain didn’t follow, instead letting and agent help him up, into one of the vans to change. He’d have to go in to get Tony in civilian clothes… 

XxXXxX

Once Captain America was gone, Tony could breath easy. Or, as easily as he could with his chest bruised from the national icon’s shield. He was already coming up with a plan to cover for it. Winter came back quickly, though, frowning as Tony fixed the arc reactor as best as he could. 

“That was a stupid thing to do,” Tony told the Soldier as he made quickie fixes. “Going to that train yard. You should be grateful that Pepper told me you left. The Captain could have caught you.” 

“Pepper?” Winter asked, frowning. 

“Rampage. You know my face now. I’m Tony, if you didn’t know that already. War Machine is James, but I call him Rhodey.” 

“James… I think my name is James. The Captain called me Bucky…” 

“Well Bucky, good to know your name. Now, you have to hit me in the chest.” 

Winter, or Bucky, shrugged, not asking questions. As soon as he stood up, the suit moving with JARVIS’ help, Bucky swung his flesh arm towards him and knocked him down. He gasped for breath, coughing as he writhed in pain. Bucky winced, but let the suit grab him and take off again. 

The back door swung open seconds later, SHIELD fileing in with guns as he tried his best to get up. If SHIELD was here, then he needed to get out. But a head of blond hair caught his attention, and he watched in horror as Steve came running, arm in a sling and wincing at every movement. 

“Tony!” he gasped, reaching to try and help him, SHIELD hissing orders to get back. “Tony, what happened? Are you alright?” 

He laughed, more airy then normal. “F-fine. Metal guy… chest… Probably bruised. What… What are you doing here?” 

“I got off work early,” Steve told him, slowly helping him up. “So I came to join you here… But I couldn’t find you, and then the two fell in and I ran out the back. The, uh, metal guy startled me and I fell.” 

“Fell?” 

“Ledge.” 

Tony didn’t ask anything else, staring at Steve as he fussed, insisting that he could get him home without a SHIELD escort. And he continued to stare. He stred and stared, the gears cranking over time in his head as he came to a realization. A realization that would have to wait until they were home. 

And, once they were alone, sitting in their home, Steve still fussing and trying to give him painkillers and pillows to lean on, all while cradling his broken arm, the words just came spilling out. 

“I love you,” Tony said suddenly, startling Steve so much that he jumped, stopping to stare at him. 

They had said it to each other before, while they were distracted with each others bodies, but never had they said it in casual conversation. But Tony did love Steve. He loved him with every part of his being, and today had opened his eyes. His life was dangerous, and Steve could get hurt, and next time it could be worse than a broken bone. And Tony could have worse then a bruised chest. So, he wanted to make sure that if, one day, Captain America took it a little too far, actually killed him, Steve was safe, protected, and well off. 

“I love you,” he repeated, breathing a little harder because he needed to say this now, after nearly six months of dating, of nearly two months of living together. “I love you so much and I know I probably have the worst timing in the universe, but I have to tell you now. I love you, and I won't stop loving you, because I want to marry you, and stay with you, and I’m not just saying that because you’re hurt. I want… I want to…” 

“You want…” Steve gasped, voice cracking as he stared. “You want to get married?” 

“Yes,” Tony said. 

They stared at each other for a moment, Steve looking about ready to cry. He was a big softy, and Tony knew that he would make a good father someday. If this didn’t destroy their relationship. If Steve said no, and left, then Tony wouldn’t know what to do. 

“Yes,” Steve suddenly said, surging forward to kiss him, pulling the air out of him. “Yes, I… We’ll get married. I want to get married. God, I love you so much.” 

Tony felt light headed, though that might have been from the injury, and kissed Steve back. Today he’d had his eyes open. Today was the day he realized what he truly wanted. 

XxXXxX

Iron Man was on cloud nine. He was doped up on Oxytocin, Serotonin, Endorphins, and whatever other hormone caused happiness. He was on all the love drugs.

Without a care for anything, he landed at the outside of the Gamma Beta base, the doors opening easily to let him in. War Machine and Rampage were already there with Winter-Bucky, this time out of the suits, and Iron Man stepped out of his own suit with a lovesick, dopey grin to practically skip to Rhodey and Pepper. 

“Never gonna guess what happened today~” Tony said with a mix of snooty attitude and dreamy sigh. 

“Winter nearly blew your cover?” Rhodey asked, glaring at the Soldier. 

“Winter nearly broke your sternum?” Pepper said at the same time, looking ready to put on her suit to strangle the Soldier. 

“No,” Tony started, then paused. “Well, yes. But seriously, Winter, Bucky, I have got to thank you! You have a spot in Iron Legion if you want it. Hell, you might just have to be my Best Man at my wedding!” 

“I thought I was going to be your best man,” Rhodey said with a scowl. “And what do you mean wedding?” 

Tony was grinning so widely that his face was beginning to hurt. This was the best day ever, and as it had turned out, Steve had already been thinking of asking him. The big blond lug had already had a ring, a simple silver band that was as light as air and sat on Tony’s ring finger at that very moment. 

Pepper seemed to understand what was going on, and instantly went wide eyed. “No,” she gasped, more of a surprised question then anything else. 

He only managed to grin, reaching to fiddle with the ring that was on his hand. The smooth metal was warm to the touch, practically pulsating with life. In an instant, Pepper was before him, looking at the ring and fussing over how simple yet beautiful it was. Rhodey looked about ready to faint, but Bucky was very confused. 

“Wait,” he said, frowning slightly. “What did I do?...” 

“Oh, nothing,” Tony told him, as if it really were nothing. “You just startled my boyfriend into breaking his arm which gave me the push I needed to finally ask him to marry me, even though we’ve only been dating for six months. Thankfully, he’s also impatient, and wanted to ask me to marry him, anyway.” 

Bucky blinked, then nodded slowly. “That… makes sense, it a strange way… I guess I won't be able to attend the ceremony then? If your guy has seen me.” 

Now it was Tony’s turn to frown. “Actually… I might have some facial disguise sheets left. I could set one up for you and then, you know, sneak you in?” 

When Bucky looked a bit unsure, as if he had some idea in his head that he wasn’t meant to know them all on personal levels, Pepper and Rhodey seemed to forget his ‘transgressions’. They shared a look that Tony didn’t quite understand, before rounding on Bucky with matching glares. Tony couldn’t blame Bucky for jumping.

“You’re part of the team,” Rhodey argued, arms crossed. “And I don’t know about any of the other teams you’ve been on, but this team is a family. I’m the always annoyed dad, trying and failing to keep my idiot son out of trouble, and Pepper’s the perpetually exhausted mom, always tired and ready to punish the idiot son. Tony is of course the idiot son-” 

“Hey!” 

“-but you fit in as the nervous uncle, or the punk kid that we adopted. You’re part of the family Winter.” 

“It’s… It’s Bucky, actually,” he said. “But, thank you. It's… It's good to have family. I don't think I had much family growing up.” 

Tony grinned, throwing an arm over Bucky’s shoulder. “You've got us now.”

But, to Tony, he was lucky to have a friend like Bucky. He was lucky to have all of them. And he wouldn't change it for the world. Even if… Even if it meant giving up Steve, he’d never trade them for anything. And he thought that was kind of beautiful, in a horrible way.

They spent the rest of the night partying. Bucky couldn’t get drunk, it turned out, but they tried. They really, really tried. Rhodey and Pepper even went out and got more booze. Tony was almost certain that he had alcohol poisoning, and he sat next to Bucky, loose and grinning sleepily. Bucky gave him this… this look, and helped him to his feet. 

“Come on,” he said, leading Tony towards the guest room. “You need to sleep.” 

“Stebe,” Tony groaned, slumped drunkenly against Bucky’s shoulder. “Need ta call Stebe…” 

“Then we’ll call Steve,” Bucky sighed, setting him down on the floor as he retrieved the phone. When he came back, Tony’s eyelids were half closed, but he took the phone anyway. 

“Jay, call Steve.” 

The AI didn’t respond, instead instantly calling the blond. Tony grinned when a hurried confused voice came from the phone. “Hello? Tony?” 

“Hey, Steve,” Tony slurred. “Just wanted to call and check in…” 

“Tony, it’s three in the morning. Where are you?” 

“Sorry, went ta tell Rhodey and Pep and my buddy Winter.” 

“Winter?...” 

“I’ll tell you later… I’ll be home tomorrow, once I sobered up. They drank me out from under the table!” 

“Alright. Just be safe.” 

“I will.” Tony let out a yawn. “I gotta go. Winter’s giving me a look.” 

Bucky scowled at Tony, holding out a hand. Tony barely got out a ‘love you’ before the phone was slipping out of his hand and his eyes were closing. He fell into a drunken sleep with the feeling of being set on a bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I think I'm about halfway done with this thing... So! Tell me what you all think so far? Cuz next up... Shit's gonnna go down


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welp! Wedding bells and Shotgun shells!

Steve was having a great time with planning. In fact, planning the wedding might just be his favorite part. Sure there was a lot to do, a lot to make happen, but he liked the choices Tony let him make, and the choices they made together.

They were having it rather quickly, in the summer, so it only gave him about two months to plan and finalize everything. The first thing they did was colors. As an artist, Steve was very aware of color scheme’s and things of the like, and they agreed that Steve’s party would be in blue and Tony’s would be red. Men in suits with colored ties or flowers, and woman in that color of dress.

It was mainly so they could tell which ones were businessmen and which ones ‘worked at the bar’.

The wedding party came next. They would have have two each in their party. There was, of course, Pepper and Rhodey for Tony and Natasha and Sam for Steve. Nat and Sam didn’t really like that they had to wear blue. It wasn’t really either of their color’s.

Cake on the other hand, seemed to be something they _had_ to fight about. Steve wanted vanilla, a simple thing, and an actually cake. Tony wanted cupcakes, chocolate, because apparently he and Rhodey had some kind of deal that Steve wasn’t allowed to know about. They ended up getting both.

The list was long, very long, with Agents that Steve thought of as friends and acquaintances on the list. There were a few Howling Commandos coming, under the guise of ‘fathers friends’ or uncles. They’d all be in uniform, and Steve would be in uniform as well. Sure, it wasn’t the one from World War Two, or his Captain America gear, but it would be the dress blues of the modern era.

Tony knew he had been in the Army, and Steve had had some friendly banter with Rhodey because of it. It just meant that he had to wear the uniform.

However, Steve was called into Fury’s office just a week before the wedding. Agents were hushed around him, not saying a word, and just staring, as he walked by. Everyone had been excited for him, especially when they found out it was Tony Stark he was marrying. It was terrible, that the Agents were more excited about having an edge to get Tony to sell more stuff to SHIELD, then about Steve finding happiness.

“Sir?” Steve called, as he entered Fury’s office. “You called for me?”

“That I did,” Fury said, standing up. “You’re leaving.”

Steve jumped, wide eyed. Were they sending him on a long term mission? Now? Fury always had the good of the people on his mind, but taking away Steve’s chance to finally marry someone he loved was going a little far.

“Leaving?” Steve asked carefully.

“Leaving SHIELD,” was the unexpected reply.

Steve could do nothing more then stare, waiting for something, anything, to explain why Fury had made this decision. Why would he be leaving SHIELD? There was… There was nothing that would impair his ability to do his job! And with Bucky and Iron Man still out there, he couldn’t just _leave_!

“Stark,” Fury said slowly, as he stood up, “may be a consultant, but he’s not trained. With Barnes as the Winter Soldier, even if he doesn’t remember, he could put your identity at risk. If Iron Man finds out that you’re Steve Rogers, and marrying the very man that he stole the suit from, Stark won't be a consultant anymore. He’ll be a target that Iron Man isn’t going to ignore anymore.”

“Are you saying I’m putting Tony in danger?”

“You were always putting Stark at risk. Now, to keep Stark as a consultant, because everyone knows that as much as I hate the moron, he’s the only one really capable of fixing up the helicarrier if it gets fucked, I need to permanently reassign you.”

“By making me leave?”

“By giving you an ultimatum. You will be assigned as Stark’s undercover guard from SHIELD. Protect that fucker from your ex-nemesis and any other threats that are left when he’s gone. Other then being his guard, you’ll technically be a free agent, to help with the big things.”

“Iron Man is still out there, and Bucky can-”

“Be saved? We’ll work on it once the guys caught. Which is what your last mission will be. Capture the Winter Soldier, AKA James Barnes, and Iron Man and his Iron Legion. Best to have it done before your big day, Captain, but if it isn’t, well, you’ll be the one telling Stark why a Supervillain that has practically avoided him like the plague is suddenly so interested in killing him.”

Steve thought on this for a moment, chewing his lip as he grew jittery and nervous. He’s been trying for years to capture just one of the Iron Legion, or even stop them from completing a mission, but had failed _every time_. The only reason he and his team had stayed on the task was the fact that any normal agent that tried to take on the Iron Legion, ended up with several broken bones or extreme exhaustion.

Not only that, with Bucky now part of the Iron Legion as the Winter Soldier, there was a new variable. A variable that knew Steve, but didn’t, and was currently an untrackable, likely brainwashed, Russian, ghost assassin. And if Iron Man found out about who Steve was, and put a target on Tony’s head, Bucky might just put those ghostly Russian assassin into use…

“I’ll take care of it,” Steve eventually said, stern and poised now. He’d made a decision, and he almost felt like he was back in the forties now, hunting nazi’s. “Permission to use any force necessary?”

Fury looked surprised. “You… While we would prefer to have them alive for trial, they are technically terrorists. And we are at war with terrorists.”

“Permission to use any force necessary?” Steve asked again, teeth clenched, and _needing_ to hear it.

“Permission granted,” Fury eventually sighed. “And… encouraged. You’re dismissed, Captain.”

Steve nodded, turning without a word, and left HQ. He understood now why everyone was staring at him. He was leaving. Captain America was leaving. Something like that… People didn’t just turn away from it.

He made his way out, thinking long and hard about what he’d need to do to capture or take down one of the Iron Legion. He did stop by Coulson’s office on the way out for his cover for leaving work, and for why he’d be gone for a while. The owner of the bar that covered the Playgrounds entrance had given Steve the keys to a bar he was opening on the other side of town. It was a real bar, and it would belong to Steve, but he’d be ‘going on a training retreat’ before he could really run the place. Natasha and Sam would be ‘transferring’ with him.

Tony was back by the time that Steve got home. The brunette sat, rather exhausted, or hung over, on the couch, nursing with a cup of water. He looked up when Steve walked in, looking guilty and sorry, though Steve couldn’t tell why.

Steve walked to him, placing a gentle kiss to Tony’s lips before moving towards the kitchen, ready to make Bucky’s miracle of a hangover cure. “Have fun with your friends?”

“You’re not mad?” Tony asked, sounding small and so apologetic and surprised.

“Why would I be mad?” Steve asked in return, mixing up the smelly drink. “It’s not like you didn’t call to warn me. I actually didn’t expect you home quite yet. But I’m glad you’re back. Here, drink this.”

Tony took the cure when it was held out to him, and he blinked up at Steve for a moment before taking a long hard gulp. Then immediately choked and nearly threw up.

“Oh god,” Tony gagged. “That is rancid! What is that?!”

“Hangover cure,” Steve explained simply, moving to go grab his sketch pad from the end table drawer. “I don’t drink, so I’ve never really had to use it, but Natasha and Sam get pretty hammered after a long day. I know it tastes bad, but it will help. Just… plug your nose and drink.”

There was silence as Tony listened to him. Soft sounds of forced swallows and Steve’s shoes rustling the carpet were really the only sounds, as Steve moved about the living room to gather everything he would need to pretend that he was just going on a normal trip. Sketch book, pencils, the laptop Tony made him, the bag to carry it all…

“God, that’s horrible,” Tony eventually said. “How do you even know how to… Wait, are you going somewhere?”

“I keep forgetting to tell you,” Steve says, giving him an apologetic smile. “My boss bought a bar across town, and wants me to run it. It’s a lot closer to here, so no more bus, and I’ll be able to make my own hours and come visit you for lunch. But it means I have to leave town for a while to go do some orienteering thing.”

“Oh,” he said, rather dejectedly. “Well, I guess I’ll be here when you get back… What about the wedding?”

“We’ll talk over video chat. I’ll be back before then, I’m sure.”

Tony nodded, slowly. He looked so concerned, as if Steve would be gone for good. Steve, on the other hand, just wanted to live his life with Tony. He wanted to just live and be happy… Moving to the brunette, Steve cupped the back of his neck before pulling him into a nice and hard kiss. It was hot, heavy, with tongues pushing and playing for dominance. And then, as fast as Steve had started it, he ended it, stepping away.

“I’ll be back three days before the wedding,” Steve promised, placing a much lighter kiss on Tony. “I'll see you then.”

“Yeah,” Tony sighed, almost dreamily. “Yeah, I’ll see you then.”

And with that, Steve left to go hunt a metal terrorist.

XxXXxX

When Steve reaches their temporary base, Natasha and Sam are already working. They’re tapping away at computers, in all their gear, only giving him a brief glance as he came in.

“Suit up,” Natasha said blandly.

“You already have a ping?” Steve asked as he moved to pull on his suit.

“Not even close,” Sam sighed. “Ever been on a 24/7 mission?”

“Ever heard of World War Two?”

They don’t laugh, though they want to. Steve had gotten pretty mellow about his switch from the 1940’s to the 21st century. He and Sam joked about it every now and then, just because, but the feel of the room… The mission at hand? What might just be their _final_ mission together?

It was serious.

So, Steve puts on his suit, leaving the cowl off for now. The shield was a pleasant weight on his back, giving him the confidence he needed to work his way through the programs on the computer. God, he was actually putting Tony’s tech rambles to use…

Natasha and Sam don’t say anything. None of them do, day one. It was a stressful cycle, of Sam and Natasha wanting to ask but not, while Steve barely sleeps. He had to get out of the suit every twelve hours, to shower and give Tony a video call before he gets an hour or two of sleep. It was hard, seeing Tony and not being able to hold him.

Day two was mostly Sam trying to get them all to talk. It was difficult, Steve knew, with Tony always on his mind. He seemed fine, when Steve saw him, but it took everything he had to not call him while in the suit, and just tell him. He should, really, he should, but he can’t until Iron Man is taken care of.

Day three is a rush of Steve getting rather… frustrated. He had to take his laptop outside in the middle of a search, dressed only in a white t-shirt and pajama pants, and spent half the day just talking with Tony. Tony would tell him about his day, how he and Rhodey had taken Pepper to get her dress. As Steve hung up, saying goodbye, he heard Pepper call to Tony, asking about the big shipment to a SHIELD base the next day.

It wasn’t until day four that Pepper’s words hit him. He turned, sharply, to Natasha and Sam in the middle of making lunch. He was so surprised by his belated understanding that he dropped the bowl, the glass shattering on the floor.

“Steve!” Sam shouted, jumping back and away from the shards. “Damn it man, what the hell?”

“SHIELD base,” Steve gasped, hurrying to a computer. “SI shipment!”

“Slow down,” Natasha said, even as she went to look over his shoulder, Sam grumbling and sweeping up the shards of broken glass shards. “What’s going on?”

“The Iron Legion,” Steve starts as he manages to pull up SHIELD shipment orders, “almost always attacks Stark Industries shipments that goes to SHIELD. Especially the big ones. Today, in _ten minutes_ , SHIELD is going to have the largest shipment from SI they’ve ever had. We need to go. Now.”

Without another word, they rush to leave. Sam dropped the dustpan, sending the glass all over the room, as Natasha grabbed the keys to their unit Quinjet. His bike was already on it, and they moved with a speed they never had before. Steve wasn’t sure if there was a speed limit with Quinjet, like there is with cars on roads, but even if there wasn’t, Natasha was speeding like hell.

They made it to the pick up site for the SI delivery in just under nine minutes. The convoy, with all the equipment, showed up just after them, the leader surprised to see them. After they explain it was just a precaution, the Iron Legion zooms into sight.

Iron Man arrives first, with Bucky held under the arms, to drop the Winter Soldier down onto the roof of one of the trucks. War Machine and Rampage soon followed, zipping over then and sending the delivery unit’s scattering. They all swerved to circle, around and around the convoy. Iron Man raised a gauntlet, hovering for a moment, letting the repulsor heat up.

Steve, seeing an opportunity he’d likely never get again, threw his shield with all the force he could muster. The disk of vibranium sails through the air, hitting Iron Man’s arm and sending it into a position to scorch a small hole into the ground. From the way all four members of the Iron Legion snap to look at him, they hadn’t noticed them yet.

“Cap,” Iron Man said, rather confused. “You’re… already here?”

Steve didn’t dignify that with a response, hurrying to throw the shield to bounce between Rampage and War Machine. It knocked both of them off course, into each other, before sailing back to Steve as he jumped at Iron Man. Clearly, Iron Man hadn't been expecting him.

They fell to the ground with a loud thud, the pilot of the Iron Man giving a pained cry. Steve didn't care, as the metal suit came to try and push him off. He held tight, though, straddling Iron Man as he took his shield, bringing it down hard towards the arc reactor.

“No!” he heard someone shout, before Rampage was barreling into Steve's side.

Iron Man staggered up, stumbling as the jet of his boot spark from being clipped when Rampage tackled Steve. “Retreat!” Iron Man cried out, flying lopsided as he tried to get up. “Captain America just tried to-”

“Use any force,” Steve shouted over him, twisting to pin Rampage best he could. “Natasha, kill if necessary! They _cannot_ escape!”

Then, Natasha jumped onto the back of War Machine. Steve hefted his shield, ready to his Rampages reactor, but she screamed and threw him off. She went for Natasha, getting knocked off course as Sam sent his ‘feathers’ into her jets. The female legionnaire was caught by Bucky and Iron Man, straining to keep her weight up.

Natasha saw her chance to take one down, and took it. With a shout, she pulled out a prototype that Steve had vetoed before. The Electric grenade. She pressed it into the joint of War Machine's head and shoulder, activating it. The red head barely had enough time to let go before electricity sparked all along the entirety of the suit. And like that, War Machine's reactor went dark, and he plummeted from the sky.

The rest of the mission was a blur. Rampage screamed, and burned Natasha with a repulsor shot. Bucky shot Sam from the sky, and Sam broke his arm on the way down. Iron Man cursed, and gathered them both.

“You've made a mistake Captain,” Iron Man's voice said, sound more mechanical then ever. “You put a hit on us? Well guess what! Winter!”

With a snarl, Bucky, held between Rampage and Iron Man in the air, raised his gun. A sharp _pop_ filled the air, and Steve felt a bullet grazed his shoulder as they ducked out of the way.

“That's a warning shot,” Iron Man said, as they raised into the air. “You return War Machine to me before the end of the week, or SHIELD will loose a Captain.”

And with that, they were gone.

“Captain,” Natasha said, standing by War Machine. “What do we do?”

Before Steve could say a word, the leader of the convoy, Ward or something, stepped up. “We'll take him back to HQ with us. Thank you for the save Captain.”

Steve didn't say anything, giving the arc reactor a sharp hit to keep it dim before turning to go get into the team Quinjet. Sam followed, Natasha helping him along, then taking the pilot seat. No one spoke a word.

XxXXxX

Tony slammed the door to the house shut when he finally got home a week later. Rhodey was still missing, and Tony had asked Bucky to do something terrible…

He had asked Bucky to hunt down Captain America and kill him. It was drastic, Tony knew, but it was a needed measure. If the Captain had only been holding back because SHIELD orders, then he wasn’t the good hero Tony had thought he was.

They had spent a week setting up Bucky with everything he would need to find out who Captain America on his own. Tony would not have any part of this. He didn’t care who Captain America was, he really, really didn’t. He only cared about the threat, the potentially extreme compromise that could be a Captain America in Hydra hands, being eliminated.

Rhodey would be disappointed, of course. They’d had many discussions about how they would be taking out Hydra Agents that they found. They had tried many of their discussed options. Tying them up and leaving the agent with a message, to SHIELD, only resulted in a high up fake SHIELD guy letting them go like nothing happened. Sending them to another group only got them shot at, called liers. Killing them…

Killing them had been something they talked about, but they never did, since they wanted to keep it as a last resort. Rhodey killed to often as a soldier. Pepper would do it, to protect them, but she’d be different. Tony… Tony had fired shots into the chests of terrorist soldiers, had exploded them and burned some alive, when he first created the armor and escaped the Ten Rings. He had been the one to throw Obie - No, never again - to throw Obadiah Stane into the massive arc reactor when Pepper flipped it on.

And with the problem with Rhodey… They'd never get passed the suit. It was impenetrable, to all but that damn vibranium shield, and they could use any method of opening it without killing Rhodey in the process. The real problem was how Rhodey would get food and water. Even when it's off, it had spare power stores in the suit itself, unattached to the arc reactor, so Rhodey could use that power for different things. Activate a temporary stasis within the suit, turn waste into water, or open the suit being the main three. But after a week… Rhodey might be waiting for the right moment to escape, or go into stasis, or… or Rhodey’s dead.

Before he could dwell to deeply on the thought, a concerned voice called out to him, sharp and loud. “Tony?!”

There was a thunder of feet, and Steve came sliding inside, his socks making him slip on the wood floor. He landed, hard, and it looked like he had bit through his lip as he fell. A small trickle of blood trailed down his face to his chin.

“Whoa,” Tony said, moving to help Steve up. “What are you doing home? You weren't supposed to be back for a couple more days.”

“I got back early,” Steve said quickly, ignoring Tony’s attempts to check his shoulder. “But where were _you_? I thought…”

He trailed off, taking hard and deep breaths. Then, with such a whisper of a breath, Steve let out five words that made Tony’s heart break.

“I thought you were _dead_.”

“No,” Tony said quickly, heart beating fast as he tried to smooth out Steve's hair and shirt. “No, no, no. I'm not dead. I'm not dying, Steve, I swear I'm not.”

Steve seemed unable to stop himself, cupping Tony’s face and pressing quick and hurried kisses to him. Tears were streaming down his face, and Tony returned the kisses until he could pull Steve into a hug. The blond held tight to him, sucking in a soft breath and burying his face in Tony’s neck.

“It’s okay, big guy,” Tony practically cooed. “I'm okay.”

Eventually, Steve calmed down, face pressed lightly into Tony’s neck after they sat on the couch. Steve was insistent that Tony remain in his lap, not that Tony really minded. It took a while for them to be able to be calm enough to talk about what had happened. Steve spoke up first.

“Tony?” he started, getting Tony's attention.  “Where were you?”

Taking a careful breath, Tony knew exactly what to tell him. “Rhodey’s missing,” he breathed out, hating that he was still lying to Steve, to his soon-to-be husband. “He went off base to come meet with me and Pep, do a little more on the wedding, but…”

“But he never showed,” Steve finished. For a moment, Tony was worried that Steve knew. It was crazy, so crazy, to think that he did, but… It wasn't impossible,  if Rhodey had… had… “SHIELD called. They said that Iron Man was angry because they stopped him from taking their shipment… They thought he might come after you.”

Oh. Well, that certainly wasn't what Tony had been expecting. At least they didn't have a clue who he was. Yet.

“Are we going to hold off on the wedding?” Steve continued. “Wait until-”

“No,” Tony interrupted. “Rhodey wouldn't… He'd want us to go through with it. Just need to… call up a replacement for my best man. Clint would probably love to do it.”

“Are you sure?” Steve asked, sounding nervous. “We can-”

Tony cut him off with a fast kiss. “If you say we can wait, then you're sleeping on the couch.”

Steve gave a small smile, giving Tony another kiss before they settle in for the night.

XxXXxX

Days passed, and Tony still had no word from Bucky, or from Rhodey. There was no way to figure out where SHIELD or Hydra had taken Rhodey and the suit, and Tony really didn't want to hear from Bucky.

At the moment, however, Tony was distracted with the wedding. His wedding. That was happening at this very moment. Like, he was in his tux, and about to walk down the aisle. He was holding goddamn red roses and blue hydrangeas! He was carrying a bouchet!

“It's gonna be fine,” Pepper said from his right, giving him that bright smile that made him love her all those years ago.

“Nah,” Clint said from his left, where Rhodey should have been. “It's gonna be great!”

Tony took a deep breath, listening as the music started. He gave Pepper and Clint a look, one he was sure look pitiful,  before the doors opened, and he walked.

At first, he was focused on giving smiles and nods to guests. Then he saw Steve. The man, dressed in his old SDBs, was beaming. And for a minute, it was just them. Just Tony, walking to Steve, to spend the rest of their lives together. And he wasn’t scared. He'd never be scared of Steve. He didn't know why he had been.

“Hi,” Steve whispered, soft and affectionate, when Tony reached his spot.

“Hey,” Tony whispered in reply, as the priest started speaking.

“I'm so glad we're finally doing this,” Steve continued, louder, because, wow. Since when were they at the vows part? “I know it happened fast, when you came crashing into my life-”

“Literally,” Tony chuckled, squeezing Steve's hands.

“Very literally. I remember, before that day, thinking ‘God, love at first sight can't be a thing’. But as soon as I saw you, with your prim and pristine suit, kneeling down in the middle of a busy and dirty New York street just to help pick up some drawings of New York skyline… I really started to believe.

“Then we went on a date and… it was just so great. It was _amazing_. And I wanted to ask you to marry you since before I moved in, but you beat me to it. And now, I don't care what comes next, I'm going to be the first to say this one. I do. I do with all my heart.”

Tony nearly choked, gaping like a fish. After something like that, what could he say that showed Steve just how much he loved him. There was really… nothing. And god, Tony felt like he was crying.

“I,” he started, then stopped, swallowing hard. “I don't really know what to say after that.” There was laughed behind him, and he felt Pepper give him a small kick at his heel. “But, uh…” Deep breath…

“My parents didn't have a happy marriage,” he eventually said. “It wasn't good for them, or me, and I thought marriage was something I would never do. I thought that it would be easier to just spend my life alone.

“Bur after I met you, I realized what they did wrong. They treated their marriage like it was the end of the race. But in reality, the wedding is the start of a new part. Going from a solo sprint to a three legged race. And this is our start. You made me believe and… and I do.”

The real ‘I do’s seemed to fly by, and soon, the pastor was saying ‘you may now kiss’. And they did. It felt like eternity, before they pulled apart. Steve smiled at him, and Tony smiled back, until… Until Steve looked horrified.  

Before Tony could ask what was wrong, Steve had pulled him down to the ground, blocking his body with his. A shard _bang!_ echoed through the building as a shot was fired. Steve's face changed, sharp and stern, as he looked up.

All of Tony’s ‘guests’, business partners and acquaintances,  scattered, running from the building. _Steve's_ guests, all pulled guns from their coats. Icer guns.

Then, an older looking man, with a case, threw a red white and blue shield to Steve, with a shout of ‘Captain!’

And that's when Tony saw the shooter. Bucky, Winter Soldier. That meant... Steve, Captain America.  

“Shit!” Tony screamed, pushing himself as far from Steve as he could.

The blond looked at him in concerned fear, as Tony ran with Pepper towards where they had hidden a pair of suits. Clint pulled out his bow, from seemingly nowhere, notching one and aiming it at Steve. Then Natasha pulled out Black Widow’s Widow Stings, and Sam's suit ripped as Falcon's wings opened on his back.

Bucky dropped down to them, connected to a zip cable. He was holding the quick fold suits, the one Tony and Pep had been going for.

“Tony,” Bucky said, gun aimed at Steve. “We need to go.”

Tony took the suit, donning it as he turned to look at Steve. The blond, his husband, _Captain America_ , was staring at him in horror. Pure betrayed horror.

And as SHIELD agents opened fire on him, Tony had one final thought.

Should he be afraid of Steve?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. This is the second to last chapter. The next one will be the ending, and because I love Peter and Spideypool, Peter will show up in a terrible ending cuz I don't know what the fuck I'm doing.


	5. Chapter 5

Steve sat, body numb, on a bench in the church as he stared down at his phone.

After Tony-

After Iron Man-

After what happened, SHIELD had taken control of the area. Fury showed up and was… Well, he was furious. How had none of them noticed? How had _Steve_ not noticed? Then they were put on probation - him, Sam, Natasha - and a squad was sent out to look, but came back empty handed.

The Iron Legion had… escaped. Steve couldn’t tell if that was a good or bad thing

It took three hours before he was allowed to leave, still staring down at his phone. He'd sent Tony about seven different text, and tried to call at least twenty times. Every voicemail… It was usually just ‘Tony, I…’ before he trailed off, not sure what to say, before Natasha or Sam took the phone away to hang up.

Steve went home, to the mansion afterwards. To Tony’s mansion. It felt so empty without Tony there, and Steve felt his heart clench when he notices how silent it really is without him. Jarvis doesn't say anything, but thankfully hadn't locked him out.

He set his shield lightly against the couch, thinking everything over. So… Tony was Iron Man. And Pepper was Rampage. Bucky, or the Winter Soldier, must be that friend Winter Tony had talked about. Steve realized then that Tony had put a hit on him. A hit for Bucky to kill him.

Tony _couldn't_ have known he was Captain America.  He couldn't have. He was so willing to marry him, wanted to had. And dear _God_ , Steve was married to a terrorist.  

But then he thought about it. He thought, frowning as he thought of all the conversations, no matter how small, he'd had with the members of the Iron Legion. Last time they'd met, Iron Man- Tony had said he'd made a mistake… The first time he'd fought against Bucky, he'd told him that they were fighting the wrong guys… Rampage- Pepper had once asked Natasha if maybe they could be friends, both being female supers and all. War Machine had once even apologized for-

War Machine, Steve thought suddenly. It had to be Rhodey. It had to be. It explained why he was ‘missing’. Why he hadn't been at the wedding. So War Machine really did have a pilot.

And then Steve felt sick all over again.

Rhodey hadn't said a word since he got to SHIELD HQ. He hadn't moved, hadn't spoke, hadn't _eaten_.

Before he realized what he was doing, Steve was on his way to SHIELD Headquarters. He entered, walking easily passed agents, even on probation, as everyone was busy running around. HQ was in quite the panic. For the first time since capturing War Machine nearly two weeks ago, Steve stepped into the containment room, though he was in full Captain America gear. A quick flash of his phone over the keypad locked the doors, put the camera's on a loop. Natasha taught him that one.

“War Machine,” Steve said first, slowly stepping forward.

Rhodey didn't say anything, suspended near the far wall like Mr. Incredible from the Incredibles movie he'd watched with Tony a few days before. Steve took a deep breath, glancing at the camera's that were currently lopping what normally happens in this room. Then, he tried again.

“Rhodey.”

There was a moment of silence before the colonel's voice finally drifted out, muffled and exhausted.

“Who are you?”

“Someone who should have listened,” Steve answered warily. “Please, Colonel Rhodes, I know about Tony Stark and Iron Man. I know about Pepper Potts and Rampage. They… The ran off when the Winter Soldier open fire on me at the wedding today.”

“The wedding,” Rhodey breathed, almost a ghost of a whisper. “Has it really been two weeks? I bet Tony was really disappointed I wasn't there. But… why were you there? You shadowing Tones for _them_?”

“No. I was… I'm one of the grooms.”

“ _Steve_?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, reaching up to pull off the cowl, looking down at it. “I didn't… I didn't know Tony was Iron Man.”

“You son of a bitch, I'll-” Rhodey’s rant was cut off by sharp coughs. The War Machine armor trembled, before settling again. “You… You seemed like such a good guy, but you're really just one of them…”

“Of SHIELD?”

“Of Hydra.”

Steve felt his body stiffen. Hydra. The nazi organization that he had spent years, back in the 40’s, to get rid of. The bastards that had supposedly killed Bucky. They weren't… They couldn't…

“Hydra is gone,” Steve insisted. “I destroyed them and Red Skull back in 1946.”

“Man, you are old… You've got a rat, Steve… SHIELD is infested, and they're scurrying around right under your nose.”

Clenching his fists, Steve took a deep breath, before turning towards the door. “I'll be back.”

XxXXxX

Tony was in the middle of flying agitated circles over the base when everyone was arriving. Pepper was standing by the entrance as guard for now, making sure that no one showed up and shot him out of the sky.

Everyone that was connected with Tony on a personal level had to be brought to the base. Clint caught up with them later, and Bruce was already there making tea. But they had to bring May Parker, one of Tony’s old nannies that he'd been helping for years since the loss of her husband, to the base along with Tony’s nearly impossible to find aunts and uncles: Uncle Antonio, Aunt Olivia, Uncle Marco, Aunt Sophia, Aunt Laura, and the ever strong Aunt Peggy. His mothers family.

They arrived in their own stages, most having been to old to come to the wedding. Moving Aunt Peggy, who was already in her nineties rather then her seventies like the others, had been the hardest to arrange. He had to move her, for her protection, to the base, by the help of a team that he was paying way too much for. That was the problem with being an outed super ‘villain’, he guessed…

Aunt Peggy was the last to arrive, in a quinjet that was going to land, only for a moment, on the little section of land outside the entrance. When the jet landed, Tony went down, taking deep and heavy breaths as he tried to figure out what to say. Aunt Peggy knew, of course, but she had days where she forgot about it entirely, or called him Howard rather then Tony… It was heartbreaking.

“Peggy?” Tony said hopefully, helmet folding back, as one of the men wheeled her down the ramp.

She smiles, wide and shaky. “Tony! My favorite little nephew…”

He couldn’t help the smile he gave back. “I’m your only nephew, Aunt Peggy.”

“Not according to the newscast of your wedding.”

Tony winced, moving behind her chair to wheel her inside. “Sorry… Steve is… I would have brought him to see you, but-”

There was a thud from above, and everyone instantly turned to look up the cliff. There was something falling down the cliff, something large. Then Tony heard the noises. That wasn’t a something. It was a someone.

Tony instantly charged a repulsor, along with Pepper, as Aunt Peggy pulled out a gun in an old shaky hand. Then the red white and blue spangled man landed in front of them with a thud, and Tony was panicking. That was Captain America. That was _Steve_ in full _Captain America_ gear! But Aunt Peggy seemed delighted.

“Steven!” she chirped. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in nearly a year! Come on, get up! I want you to meet my nephew!”

Steve looked up, covered in dust, with wide and shocked eyes. “ _Peggy_?”

Tony darted looks between them, gears turning quickly. It slid rather easily into place, now. A man named Steve Rogers was Captain America in the forties, according to Aunt Peggy. Who had dated him. And his’s Steve’s last name had been Rogers before they got married just about… was it 13 hours, now, or 14?

“Oh my god,” Tony gasped, “I married a 90 year old _and_ took Aunt Peggy’s leftovers…”

“Hush,” Aunt Peggy said, waving her gun around. Tony carefully eased it from her hand. “Now get me inside. It’s cold out here! Can’t have you two getting sick.”

Sharing a glance with Pepper, Tony could only wheel Aunt Peggy into the base, Steve following behind. As soon as they entered, every gun was aimed on Steve, and that meant a lot of guns. The Carbonell’s, Tony’s mothers family, had been the main mafia family in Italy since the late 1800’s. Her knowledge of guns was how Tony’s mother had met Howard.

Bucky, however, held two and Bruce was looking a little green.

“I’m not here to fight,” Steve said rather quickly, actually taking off the shield and setting it on the ground. He even kicked it away. “I wanna talk. Rhodes told me about Hydra.”

“So you aren’t really a Hydra agent,” Tony said slowly.

Aunt Peggy burst into laughter, leaving Tony to give her a withering look. Locking the wheels of her chair, Tony moved to grab Steve by his star spangled arm, and lead him out of the main room. Kitchen is always good for these sorts of talks. Only problem is, Clint was in there getting a snack. Or, was. He booked it as soon as he saw Tony’s face and Steve.

They stood, silent for a while, as they looked anywhere but each other. Tony didn’t know what to say. Everything had happened so fast, and now Steve was here, and had apparently talked to Rhodey. It was all very confusing.

“I’m so-” Steve started as Tony began with “I should-”

They stopped, turning to look at each other. For what felt like ages, they just stared. What could they possibly say, possibly do, to fix something this broken? This fucked up?

“I’m so sorry,” Steve said, making Tony jump. “I know words can’t make it better, can’t fix what I did, but I have to start there. I’m so, _so_ sorry. For not listening, for nearly capturing you, for actually capturing Rhodey…”

“And nearly killing me,” Tony said, then winced, because, okay, Steve didn’t need to know that. But, by the way Steve jerked, he’d have to explain anyway. “The scar around my chest, the one I said was from a childhood heart surgery thing, not really from that. The, uh, the arc reactor used to be in my chest. Kept shrapnel out of it. If you had hit it, before I had it removed, I would have died. So, yeah…”

Steve looked horrified, gaping at him as if he had told him he was dying.

“I’m not dying,” Tony rambled on. “I mean, not anymore. The old core for the reactor was kind of poisonous. It was sorta killing me, then I synthesized some vibranium and made a new core, and I was fixed. That was actually not long after you showed up, so, no worries. I mean-”

“Tony,” Steve breathed out, making him snap his jaw shut and swallow hard. “You talk too much.”

And Tony couldn’t stop himself. He surged forward, grabbing Steve by the straps of his uniform and pulling him into what might have just been the roughest kiss they’d ever had. Inside the suit, Tony got enough lift to be at the same height as Steve, giving him the perfect angle. Their teeth clanked slightly together, tongues now where near as gentle in their prodding as their normal dance, and when Tony backed Steve up and against the counter, he got a low moan in response.

He could vaguely hear the sound of someone entering the kitchen, but ignored it. Steve seemed like putty in his hands, ripe for the picking. Or for the fucking. Tony wasn’t really thinking right now. Steve pulled back, looking dizzy and dazed and Tony wanted to see more of that, moving his hands to search for a zipper and his mouth to press kisses along Steve’s throat. Steve’s hands were practically clawing at the metal of the suit, his breath hot against Tony’s ears as he looked for the release for the suit.

“Anthony Edward Stark!” A voice screamed behind him.

Tony nearly fell on his ass as he and Steve jumped apart, turning to look at whoever had entered the kitchen. It was Pepper. And she _did not_ look pleased. Though, a glance at Steve showed that he looked about ready to explode from embarrassment, if his cheeks were any clue.

“Pep,” Tony stammered out. “I was just- I mean, we were-”

“Not a word,” Pepper hissed. “Sharon is here.”

He sighed, rubbing his brow. Sharon Carter. Their in at SHIELD and Tony’s rather young cousin. She was ex-CIA and just her even without that training, her Carter blood made her dangerous. And boy was she going to be angry that _Captain America_ was his _husband_. Because how reckless could he get?

“Come on,” Tony said, leading Steve out of the kitchen to where his cousin was waiting. “Sharon, my favorite cousin! Glad you could make it. Trip go okay?”

“Yes,” Sharon said rather casually. _To_ casually… “Steve. Nice to see you again.”

“Agent 13,” Steve said, also rather casually. “I didn’t know that you knew Tony.”

“He’s my cousin. I didn’t know you were into men.”

“Boy,” Tony said, quickly moving to rub his hands together. “Is it just me or is it chilly in here? Good thing we got all those old people out of her already, huh Pepper?”

Pepper was giving him a glare that only she could do, and Tony felt an even worse chill. Well, this was awkward. He should probably find a way to break the ice, he really should. But what would the fun be in that?

Moving to the main table, to where he usually gave his inspirational speeches and what not, Tony cleared his throat. The two blonds turned to look at him, as did Clint, Bruce, Bucky, and Pepper. There team, currently, was small, and Tony doubted that they could really do this, but they would have to. After all, if Rhodey died, then Tony would…

“We’re here to talk about a mission,” Tony said, placing his hands on the table. “Whatever happened between you guys, it needs to be put on the back burner. We have bigger fish to fry.”

“Hydra,” Steve instantly said, now focused on Tony. “But how do you know it’s really Hydra? I mean, I trust you, but I wiped most of them out back during the war, and Peggy finished them off.”

Tony chewed his lip, turning to look at Pepper. “When I… You probably don’t know this, but when I got the reactor, the one that I told you had been in my chest, I found Stark Weapons all over the camp. A _terrorist_ camp. So I made Iron Man to get out, and then used it to hunt down all the rouge tech. Rhodey and Pepper joined in, we kept hunting, and found a Hydra base filled with agents and my guns. I recognized most of them as SHIELD agents. All of them rats. And SHIELD is infested with them.”

“I’ve been the in,” Sharon added, arms crossed. “Finding the good guys and the bad, giving Tony the names. It’s a lot of Agents, Steve.”

For a moment, Steve frowned in thought. Tony wasn’t sure what Steve would do. The relationship Steve apparently had with Sharon was a variable that Tony didn’t really know. He couldn’t figure out how they would work together, couldn’t figure out how their relationship would affect their the group as a whole.

He couldn’t figure out how it would affect him.

“What’s that plan?” Steve eventually asked.

Tony grinned. “Depends. Think Falcon would like to help out?”

“Depends. Think you got room for Widow?”

XxXXxX

Steve was, the next day, sitting in the mansion waiting for Sam and Natasha.

The meeting had ended quickly, with everyone going off to get ready to start their part of the plan. Sharon was staying at the base, to take on a roll of tactician for them when everything went into motion later that day. A man that Tony knew well, Bruce Banner, was going to be going with Pepper to provide a distraction at the Triskelion as Bucky and Clint would be doing… something Steve wasn’t allowed to know. Tony, on the other hand…

“Steve?” a voice called from the door.

He looked up, feeling oddly relaxed about everything, as Natasha stepped inside. She looked worried, one of the few times Steve could actually see emotion on her face. Sam was next to her, wide eyed with concern. Steve really couldn’t blame them. After all, he was sitting on the couch with a gun held quite loosely in his hand.

“Hey man,” Sam said as he slowly stepped forward. “What you doin’ with that?”

Steve looked down at the gun, tightening his grip. He knew how this would look. He did, especially with everything that happened. And… it wasn’t the first time someone had found him like this.

“Steve,” Natasha said softly, but sternly. “Why do you have a gun?”

“I’ve been thinking,” Steve said, leaning forward, elbows on his knees as he inspected the gun. It was a simple piece. Elegantly plain, effectively light. “About Tony, and Iron Man. Everything that’s happened since I came out of the ice. No, since before I put the plane down. Do you know what I realized?”

“Steve, give me the gun.”

“Not meant for me,” he announced, stern. “It’s for Hydra.”

“You ended Hydra,” Sam desperately said, reaching forward. “You’re good now, okay man? Just give us the gun and we can talk this out.”

The gun came up, pointed towards Natasha. Steve knew she was a friend, he did, but at the moment, he couldn’t be sure. She was desperately loyal to SHIELD, and Steve couldn’t be sure if it was really SHIELD she was loyal to, or if she was really brainwashed Hydra. As soon as the muzzle was actually aimed at someone, both Sam and Natasha froze.

“If I said I was done with SHIELD, and that I’m defecting to the Iron Legion, what would you do? Would you stop me? Or would you hear me out first?”

“I’d have to stop you,” Natasha said. “SHIELD would give the order and I-”

The click as Steve fired the gun was near deafening. The sickening pop of Steve firing at his own friend, at someone he trusted, almost made his stomach churn. Sam looked horrified, wide eyed and sick, as Natasha crumbled to the ground. There was no blood, Steve knew, but Sam wouldn’t know that.

“She’d fine,” Steve said as he stood up, removing the clip from pistol. “We just needed her out of the way. She would have called SHIELD, tipped them off. Listen, I know this is going to sound crazy, hell it did to me, but Tony? The Iron Legion? Not actually evil.”

“You shot her,” Sam whispered, dropping back into one of the chairs. “You shot Nat. What the hell…”

“It’s crazy,” Steve said again, going to tie Natasha with the cord Tony had given him. “I know. But she’s not hurt. No blood. Really. I just need you to listen to me, alright Sam?”

Sam stared at him for a bit, before leaning back. “Ok. I’m listening.”

“Actually,” Tony said as he stepped out from the hidden door to his lab, making Sam jump. “Can we do this on the road? Cuz, like, this is taking too long and Bruce and Pep are going to move out in five minutes to start the attack. So…”

Steve nodded, moving Natasha to the couch before heading for the garage door. Sam still that shocked look, though Steve was more focused now. He took the bag Tony was holding, checking inside as he did a mental check list. His uniform, shield, gun, and extra clips were inside, ready.

“Cap?” Sam asked as he followed them down. “What exactly is the plan here?”

“Pepper and a friend of mine are gonna distract them, make some noise,” Tony said as he moved to one of the tool racks on the wall. After a few prods that Steve couldn’t see, it swung out, revealing a safe. Huh. Neat. “And I’m going to go in when they’re distracted and find my way to Rhodey. Replace the arc reactor, fix what I can, and get him out of there.”

“While he’s doing that,” Steve continued, “we run in under the guise of him having attacked Natasha while coming here to get his suit. If you hadn't agreed to help us, then it would be just me going in saying he knocked you both out and tried to solicit me into joining him.”

“We all know that I did get you on my side,” Tony said, with that mischievous cunning lopsided smile that Steve loved so much, though this one looked pained. He opened up the locked safe, pulling out what looked to be thin metal bands, about eleven of them, of various sizes. “I want you promise me something. If I get caught, you tell them that you didn’t know anything. You didn’t know about me being Iron Man, or about this plan, and you get out. Do the backup plan and get out before Natasha turns you in.”

“I can’t promise that. You know I can’t.”

For a moment, it was only them, only Steve and Tony, without a care in the world. Steve looked deep into Tony’s rich eyes, taking in that beautiful smile that had made him fall in love, even if it looked sad, strained. He just wanted to take Tony into his arms again, kiss that sadness away, make Tony feel as relaxed as possible.

“Are you guys going to kiss or something?” Sam asked, snapping them both out of it. “Because I can leave and give you some privacy.”

Tony scoffed at that, moving towards Steve and holding out four of the eleven bands. “Take these. Boots and gauntlets. Nanotech. Just put one around each of your ankles and wrists, and tap the little blue button on one and the rest will assemble.”

Steve took them, looking at the silvery bands in his hands before leaning forward to kiss Tony. It was much shorter then Steve wanted it to be, just a quick peck. Especially compared to the one they had shared in the bases kitchen. But for now, Steve would take what he could get.

When they pulled apart, Tony took a deep breath, eyes closed, before turning and hurrying towards where he had left the armor. Steve watched him go, waiting before turning to look at Sam. The man was giving him a look.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Sam said quickly, moving to the ‘delivery van’ that Steve had for work at the ‘bar’. “Nothing at all, Sappy Cappy. Nothing at all.”

Steve rolled his eyes, letting Sam take the wheel so he could get on his gear.

XxXXxX

Tony had gotten to Rhodey rather quickly. He had fixed his friends reactor, opened his helmet to greet him, but didn’t remember much of what happened after that.

When he came to, he was laying in a bed, still in the armor, with a small boy in baggy scrubs sitting in a corner. Tony waited, the hud flickering to life, though offline from the network, and observed the boy from his spot in the bed. He was small, painfully so, with a mess of brown hair and no shoes. The boy was, as best as Tony could tell, about seven.

“Hey,” Tony said, voice filled with static. Power was low. Not much left to go into speakers. He decided to just open the helmet, though, as the kids head shot up. “Where am I?”

“You're alive,” the boy said, ignoring Tony’s question entirely. “Three days and you're...  that amazing.”

“Amazing,” Tony drawled, then backtracked. “Wait, three days?”

“Since they brought you in,” the kid explained, getting up. “At least, I think it's three days. I only noticed you three days ago.”

“Where are we?”

“Don't know. I've never been outside.”

“You- What?”

“It's a lab,” he said, like it should have been obvious. “Hydration or something. I don't really know. Just hear the guards say it sometimes when they're training the working experiments. I'm left alone because I'm too weak. Come here to be by myself.”

“Hydration? Hydra? This doesn't make sense… I was just with Rhodey, getting him set up with home flight protocols… how have i been here for three days?...” He shook his head. “Never mind that. What's your name?”

“My experiment designation is P37-3R.”

“You're an _experiment_?”

The kid looked up at him like he was an idiot, though Tony wasn't sure what else to do but stare. Tony wasn't sure if he should weep for this kid or give him a puppy. He just looked so unimpressed and more then a little depressed.

“The lab is all super solider development program. We're all enhanced in the womb from different samples of some guy's cells. I'm made from petri dish 37, third run. Only one from the third run to live this long. Well, the human run, anyway. They do animals here, to.”

Tony took a deep breath, trying to remain calm as this information was thrusted upon him. So he was in a Hydra lab. Where they were trying to recreate the super soldier serum. Using unborn children. That seemed to not survive. This was… Tony didn’t know what to call it, but it wasn’t good.

“I'm not calling you that,” Tony said simply, moving to the door. “How about… Peter?”

Peter? _Peter_ ? Of all the cool stuff he could have called this kid, and he comes up with _Peter_? But the boy looks up at him as if he had just offered him something amazing. And it was just a name, something to call the kid that didn't leave a sour taste in Tony’s mouth.

“Peter?” he asked, voice soft, blue eyes nearly bulging out of his head. “You're… giving me a name?”

“Sure,” Tony said, putting on his best grin because _fuck_. He was already making decisions that shouldn't be made without Steve! “So, Peter, think you can help me out of here?”

Peter, still wide eyed and now wringing his hands in the hem of his oversized scrub shirt, nodded quickly. He turned, moving towards the door, before pulling the heavy metal open. It squealed in protest, Peter straining, until Tony moved and helped him. Even with the suit, pushing the door was hard. Maybe Peter wasn't as normal as Hydra thought.

Tony followed Peter as quietly as he could towards the end of the hall. The area they were in seemed practically deserted, not a single Hydra agent in sight. Had the facility been abandoned? Had Hydra left Peter here, while they left? But they had left Tony here. None of it made sense.  

Tony felt a soft tapping on the knee of the suit, drawing his attention down to Peter. They were in what seemed like a much more… advanced area then the last, and Peter held up a finger to his lips as he moved to an electronic door. As he pressed a few buttons on the keypad next to the door, Peter smiled nervously.

“If you want to get out,” Peter said softly, “then the best way to do that would be through the barracks. The scientist barracks. But to get there, we'll have to go by the training labs. There are no cameras here, not enough power to keep them running and all the equipment, so all you have to worry about is getting spotted by security.”

“What about you?” Tony asked, peering through the door as it slid open. “You'll be in trouble if we get caught.”

“All experiments are meant to follow orders. Since I'm a failure, they expect me to be stupid. I can just say that I followed orders, and pretend to be confused why they're mad.”

“You’re not a failure, and you'll still be in danger.”

Peter shrugged, moving to put a finger to his lips again. They were in another hallway, this one dimmed to near darkness besides the light coming from the floor to ceiling glass that stood on the left. Tony paused for a second, afraid that maybe he had been fooled, lured into a trap, but no one inside even glanced at the glass. Then, Tony noticed that the room on the other side had a mirror wall on the other side. One way glass.

As they continued on, Tony observed what was happening on the other side of the one way glass. It was a small platoon worth of children, all too young to be teens yet. Each had a number on the back of their scrubs: P21-4R, P49-7R, P17-5R… The youngest, with the number P24-14R, couldn’t be more then two years old. But every single one had a fire, a burning fire of hatred in their eyes. There would be no coming back for them. Not even for the two year old.

The walk was painfully slow, Peter stopping them every few minutes as a Hydra agent with a hand held radio walked by. They were all painfully oblivious, but it worked out better for them. Eventually, they had to go by a set of labs, and Tony peered inside a small window, even as Peter ducked to keep out of view of anyone on the other side of it. The lab was filled, mainly, with animals. There were a few cases with insects, but it was mainly cages. One of which had a rather feral looking dog inside. And Tony could see scientists rushing for the door.

“Got incoming,” Tony said, backing up to turn a corner.

Peter immediately moved to look through the window, motioning for Tony to go down the hall as he moved towards the door. He entered before the scientists could even open the door, and Tony snuck a peek inside to see just what was going on. Inside, Peter was soothing the god with surprising ease, putting a collar and leash on it. The scientists were going back to work as nothing had happened.

When Peter came back out, the dog was following him, as docile as a puppy. The dog had given him a look, but not much else. Peter chewed his lip, leading the way down the hall once again until they made it to the barracks.

“So,” Tony said as Peter had the dog sit. “What’s with the dog?”

“He’s experiment W1-5K3,” Peter explained. “He’s a wolf dog, the most successful serum candidate so far. He imprinted on me.”

“An extremely dangerous, near feral wolf dog with super soldier serum imprinted on you. Like a baby duck.”

“Yeah.”

Tony gave the dog a look, as it looked back. It looked kind of like a german shepard, with the tan base and the black patches. Its eyes were an odd mix of wild and intelligent, with a swirl of amber color like whiskey.

“I’m not calling him W1-5K3,” Tony eventually said, as he watched Peter climb up one of the bunks with a screwdriver. “So I’ll call him… Uh… Whiskey!”

“He gets a name to?” Peter asked, unscrewing a grate from the ceiling. “Does that mean he can come with us?”

“What made you think you were coming?” Tony joked, then backtracked. “That came out wrong. Cuz you are coming. And we’ll bring the dog. Whiskey. We can bring Whiskey. But we… We have to bring down the place down when we get out, okay?”

Peter nodded, somehow not getting hit by the grate as it sung down and open. He climbed inside, disappearing into the area. There was a soft tapping, like a hand patting a metal walkway, and Whiskey clawed his way up one of the bunks, leaping into the opening with ease. Tony was quick to follow, using a little of what small amount of power he had for the suit to push himself up and join Peter and the dog. The boy quickly closed the grate behind them.

They continued on their way, walking through the massive metal room that seemed to be filled with generators. Tony, so used to messing with Hydra, immediately had an idea. As they walked, metal boots of the suit clanking, Tony flipped dials and switches on the generators, so ready to make this hell hole go boom.

By the time they reached the outside, going through an access tunnel that let them out not far from DC, the generators were already making the ground rumble. They moved as far as they could, watching as the ground caved in on the filthy lab, entombing it.

SHIELD showed up almost immediately.

And Nick Fury was not in the lead.

Steve rushed to him with glee, pulling him into his arms to place a deep kiss on his lips. Tony returned it eagerly, threading his hands through Steve's soft locks. When they pulled apart, Steve let out a breath, looked tired and exhausted, as he pressed their foreheads together.

“You've been gone for days,” Steve sighed. “You went to go get Rhodes, but you never came back. What happened?”

“Apparently I got kidnapped by Hydra.” Tony glanced at Peter, who was hiding behind the dog. “And, uh, I found us a dog. You wanted a dog, right? You can run with him, he's enhanced. The only thing is, he comes with a kid, and I already named them, so...”

Steve glanced at Peter and Whiskey, then shook his head smiling. “Only you, Tony. Only you could get kidnapped, miss the entire uprising of Hydra, then come out with a dog and a son.” Immediately, Steve's eye widened. “I mean… I don't mean to assume, if you're not ready, but-”

Tony chuckled, taking Steve's mouth again to silence him. “Assume. I don't mind.”

Peter looked up at them, confused. “Does this mean I get to stay? Are you going to… adopt me? Even though I have spider powers?” He slapped his hands over his mouth, wide eyed.

Steve and Tony shared a look, then Steve scooped him up. “Me and Tony’s friends have all kinds of powers. We'll help you learn how to use them.”

Peter grinned, almost shyly, as he nodded in excitement. Tony laughed, because wow! They were going to be okay.

XxXXxX

Everything did turn out okay, with Steve and Tony. They had a bit of a hard time explaining things to the press, especially after Tony admitted he was Iron Man to the public and explained what exactly happened. Peter was a bit harder to explain, though they made him a fake identity as Peter Parker. Whiskey was easy, since they could call him a regular dog.

And things remained okay, for over ten years. While they had their arguments, Steve and Tony always come back to one another. They merged their teams, or most of it, into one team called the Avengers. Rhodey, sadly, had to return to the Military to continue his service, but Bruce and Clint joined them, and Pepper was on reserves in case Tony or Steve were busy with an event with Peter.

The team eventually moved into a tower that Tony built specifically for the good side of SHIELD and the Avengers. It was about 100 stories, the bottom ten being for public, the next 30 for offices, 20 for research development,  and about another 20 for gyms and shooting ranges and testing areas, and the last 20 just for the Avengers living quarters.

And ten years later, they were still together, training a now nineteen year old Peter to be Spiderman and getting ready for family dinners.

“Peter's kind of late,” Steve mused as he was setting the table. “He's out on patrol, isn't he?”

“Yeah,” Tony said, tapping away on a tablet and cooking pasta at the same time. “He'll be fine Steve. This isn't the first time that he's gone on patrol. He probably just ran into that Deadpool guy again.”

“And that's a good thing?”

“Not _good_ ,” Tony sighed, moving the pasta into a large bowl. “Just better then him getting caught up in, say, AIM or Hydra.”

Steve hummed, sitting down to pick up his own tablet. He was flipping through the evening news, wondering if the Bugle was slandering Spiderman again. They hadn't, of course, gotten any pictures other then the ones Peter gave them. The Times, on the other hand, saw Spiderman as New York’s darling. They talked him up, praised him even.

Tony sat down at the table, glancing at his watch, before sighing. They had all agreed that Peter would be home by seven for dinner. It was nearly eight. He would worry, really, but he knew that Whiskey was with him. And that dog was massive, now. Just about as large a full wolf.

Before either of them could think to hard on it, the elevator dinged, signalling the arrival of none other then Peter and Whiskey. Speak of the devil and he shall arrive… Whiskey, already smelling the strong scent of food, bounded over to his bowl, where a mix of the extra chicken was sitting on his usual food. Peter rubbed the back of his neck, dressed in street clothes with his school bag on his shoulders.

“Hey guys,” Peter laughed nervously, moving to sit down. “Sorry I'm late…”

Immediately, both men knew something was off. They knew Peter, who had a routine. Peter would start the day by going to his chemistry class at NYU, then take pictures for the Bugle and visit with his friends. After lunch, he'd go on patrol for about five hours, doing online courses after he had gotten home. It was a routine. One that Peter never broke. Yet, he wasn't in his suit…

“Pete-” Tony started, only to cut himself off as Steve casually started to dish up the plates.

“So how was your day, Peter?” Steve asked, and the boy in question knew, absolutely knew, that his Pops was angry.

“It was…” Peter chewed his lip, looking between Tony and Steve, his Dad and Pop. “Look, I'm sorry I'm late-”

“Very late,” Steve agreed.

“-but I met this guy-”

_That_ got their attention. Both men looked up, wide eyed, to stare at Peter. And Peter… Peter regretted ever opening his mouth.

“A _guy_ ?” Tony asked, grinning much too wide. “Pete, you're late to dinner because of a _guy_ ? Oh, Peter, you dog! Was he any good? If he kept you from even going to patrol, he _had_ to be good.”

“Tony!” Steve gasped, looking scandalized as Peter covered his flaming face with his hands. “Peter isn't like that, and you know it. Look, you're embarrassing him! Just because you tried to do that with me doesn't mean-”

“Oh my god!” Peter groaned, dropping his head to the table with a thud. “Shut _up_ … I didn't sleep with him! We just… We just hung out…”

Steve and Tony shared a look, raising eyebrows at each other. But they turned to Peter, Tony letting Steve take the wheel.

“Tell us about him?”

While they couldn't see his face, they saw Peter's ears turn bright red.

“He's a mechanic,” Peter mumbled, sitting up and looking away from them. “He has skin cancer, so his face is all scarred, but he's really funny. He's a couple years older then me, and we like a lot of the same games and books, and he's Pan…”

“Do we get a name with this description?” Steve pressed, carefully.

Peter gave them a small glance, then looked down at his hands, fiddling with his hands. “His name is Wade… Wade Wilson.”

Instantly Steve and Tony shared another look. They had a quick, silent conversation. Do you think he knows? Who, Peter or… Should we tell him? No, let him figure it out on his own. They turned back to Peter, smiling.

“Good for you, Pete,” Tony said, reaching out to ruffle his sons hair.

Peter huffed, but didn't object, digging into his dinner. But Steve and Tony knew. While people argued, didn't see eye to eye, they are pulled by invisible forces to each other. They had been different,  had thought they were enemies for years. Iron Man and Captain America were as different as could be, but Tony Stark and Steve Rogers were great together.

Maybe the same could be said about Spiderman and Deadpool, and Peter Parker and Wade Wilson. After all, history often repeats itself and opposites tend to attract one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's the shit ending for you all! Hope you enjoyed?


End file.
